Preston man aces second murder trial, convicted in W.Va.
By DAN DEARTH, ddearth@herald-mail.com
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — John W. Strawser Jr. allegedly tried to use social media to swap a gun that authorities said he used to shoot a man to death five years ago on Interstate 81 near Greencastle.
Pennsylvania State Trooper Eric Guyer testified Thursday on day four of Strawser’s murder trial that Strawser posted a picture of a Rossi .44 Magnum Ranch Hand on Facebook and tried to trade the gun after the shooting.
“He was trying to exchange it for an (all-terrain vehicle),” Guyer said.
Guyer also testified that Strawser posted cryptic comments on his Facebook page less than a week after Timothy “Asti” Davison was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Jan. 4, 2014.
Guyer testified that Strawser said in one of the comments, “1 more gone. Who is next?”
Authorities said Davison, 28, was driving from Florida to his home in Maine when Strawser forced his vehicle off I-81 about three miles north of the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line.
According to testimony earlier this week, Strawser circled back and shot Davison multiple times.
Davison died in a medical helicopter as he was being flown to a trauma center.
Investigators said they believe Strawser, 41, mistook Davison’s Mitsubishi Montero for a Honda Pilot that was owned by Jamie Breese of Waynesboro.
Breese’s wife, Courtney Breese, testified Wednesday that she was involved with Strawser, but the affair soured after he became controlling.
Courtney Breese told the jury that she and her husband had a heated cellphone exchange with Strawser on the night of the shooting as the couple was driving north on I-81.
Police allege Strawser was driving a Ford Ranger pickup truck and chased the Mitsubishi through Maryland until he forced the vehicle into the median of the interstate in Pennsylvania.
Witnesses testified that after the shooting, Strawser spray painted the Ford from dark blue to black, added green stripes down the sides and installed LED lighting on the undercarriage.
The prosecution called several other witnesses Thursday to show that the gun had several owners before Strawser bought it.
Casper Freeman testified he bought the gun in spring 2012 from a store in Morgantown.
The gun changed hands at least three times in Preston County, until Clarence Moats acquired it from his uncle in 2013. Moats testified he only owned the gun for about two days before he sold it to Strawser for $125.
At the time, Moats said, Strawser was dating his sister-in-law, Amy Lou Buckingham.
Authorities in Preston County arrested Strawser in April 2015 after he used the gun to shoot Buckingham. He was convicted of her murder in 2016 and is serving a life sentence in West Virginia.
Strawser wasn’t a suspect in Davison’s murder until April 20, 2015, when the Breeses came forward after hearing Strawser had been charged with Buckingham’s murder.
The Breeses told police that they believed Strawser could have shot Davison.
Herald-Mail Media reported Crime Solvers paid the couple $10,000 for their tip. The Breeses then filed a lawsuit on Feb. 12, 2016, against Davison’s mother. The lawsuit sought more than $52,000 in reward money that the victim’s family collected privately. That case was settled later the same year.
