40 to 80 Years for the Murderer of Rebecca Landrith
Newslooks \ Rebecca Landrith \ The murder of Rebecca Landrith on February 7, 2021, in Union County, Pennsylvania, was so shocking that it received national and international news coverage. Ms. Landrith was a successful model and an accomplished violinist.
Her murderer was a truck driver named Tracey Ray Rollins Jr. He pleaded guilty to murder and 20 counts of corpse abuse. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to a sentence of a maximum of 80 years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 40 years.
Judge Michael H. Sholley accepted the plea and imposed the agreed sentence of 40 to 80 years. He also entered on the record his recommendation that Rollins not be paroled after he serves his minimum of 40 years.
The murder was horrifically gruesome. Rollins shot Rebecca Landrith 26 times, mainly in the face or head, with a few shots in the chest. She was dumped in a snow bank near a guard rail of Interstate 80 in western Union County, Pennsylvania at the Mile Run exit. The following morning, a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker noticed something that didn’t look right, so he and a co-worker went to check it out. They found a disturbing and gruesome scene.
The police came to the scene and shut down I-80 for several hours as they searched for evidence in the area. They could not identify Rebecca because her face was damaged by the 26 shots, primarily to her head and face. So they had to use other evidence to identify her.
The police found evidence that was used to find the killer. When they stopped him, they found the weapon, proof of the shooting, blood evidence, bone fragments, and brain matter. He had made some unsuccessful attempts to clean up the evidence.
The local community was touched by the horrible crime and held a candlelight vigil in Rebecca Landrith’s honor.
During the plea negotiations, Mr. Rollins said he shot Landrith 26 times in the face and head because he wanted to ensure she was dead and not suffering. This seemed rather bizarre thinking and a poor attempt to put a happy face on a brutal and gruesome murder.
At his sentencing hearing, Rollins chose not to make a statement or explain his crimes. But his public defender, Brian Ulmer, spoke on behalf of his client and said that Rollins accepted responsibility for the “terrible thing” he had done and was “willing to pay the price.”
District Attorney D. Peter Johnson said he was willing to accept the plea deal because the penalty was effectively a life sentence and it would spare the family of Rebecca Landrith of having to go through a trial — which would have had to review in excruciating detail the egregious injuries to the victim.
Three of Rebecca’s siblings and her mother described her death’s impact on the family. George C. Landrith III, Rebecca’s oldest brother, addressed the court and said, “from the very first moment we learned the awful truth that Rebecca had been horrifically murdered and that her body had been discarded in a snow bank along a rural highway, we had a flood of emotions. As you can imagine, we felt great sadness, sorrow, and pain. Not just for her passing but for the fright and pain, she must have experienced in her final moments. It had to have been very intense and horrifying. On top of that, we had our sense of loss — knowing that all the tomorrows we had hoped for would not now include our beloved Becky — at least not here in this life.”
George continued, “I think the best way I can honor Becky and tell the world that she mattered; that she was, and is, loved; and that she is missed — is to have my statement be a video that I prepared with the help and collaboration of the entire family for her memorial service in March of 2021. The video shows Becky from birth to adulthood. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true, this video will say far more than I can articulate, even in a hundred thousand words. But I believe this approximately 9-minute video will show that Becky mattered; that she was, and is, loved; and that she is missed by her family and countless friends.”
George also expressed his and the family’s gratitude to the people who helped obtain justice for Becky: “We are grateful for all of those who worked tirelessly to make sure that Becky’s life wasn’t just another statistic and that justice would be sought for her. We are deeply grateful to all those who played a role — from the Penn DOT workers who discovered her body in a snow bank by the road to the state troopers who did great detective and police work to track down her murderer to the prosecutor and all the officials here in Union County who worked to make sure that our legal system obtained justice for Becky. We are deeply grateful to each of you.”
The 9-minute memorial video was played in the courtroom, and those in the courtroom said it was moving to watch.
Then Patricia McGinnis, Rebecca’s mother, said that “you cannot replace a child” and that losing a child, particularly in this brutal and gruesome fashion, is the worst thing a parent can experience. She described how painful it was to think of her daughter fearing for her life and being discarded “like a piece of garbage.” She said, “soon, it will be Thanksgiving, and I look forward to being together as a family. But Rebecca is not able to join us. She is not across the table from me. Instead — she is in an urn — on a shelf — in my living room”. Mrs. McGinnis also said there is no closure in something like this but that she found “peace in the belief that when I die, I will see Rebecca again.”
At an earlier hearing, speaking for Rollins, someone said that he “was not a monster.” Mrs. McGinnis said that statement jumped out at her. She said she would ask whoever had said that — “(1) Did you read the 25-page autopsy report? (2) Did you see the crime scene photos? (3) Did you know that the Penn Dot worker was so appalled at what he saw dumped in the snow that he had to take time off work and eventually quit his job because he was so traumatized by what he saw?”
She said: “If Rollins is not a monster, then I would surely hate to see what a monster is. Do not be fooled by his quiet and submissive demeanor in the courtroom — it is just a facade that he assumes when it benefits his cause.”
She also expressed gratitude to everyone — the PennDOT workers, the state police, the Sheriffs, the District Attorney, and the Court staff who did all they could to see that justice was done and that Rebecca was not just another tragic crime statistic.
Peter Jordan Landrith, one of Rebecca’s older brothers, also talked about how difficult it was to lose his sister and how he often reflected on his memories of growing up with her, and it fills him with overwhelming sadness to think of how she died and that she is now gone.
Mary Landrith Zinzi, Rebecca’s older sister, recalled sharing a bedroom with her little sister while growing up. They were best friends and two peas in a pod. She recalled how they would play for hours in a creek near their home and wait together for the school bus. Mary described her sister as beautiful, intelligent, and fiercely independent.
She also described how when the family was building a roadside memorial to Becky only a few days after her death, she stepped in some snow, and when she loocked down in her footprint, she realized that she had stepped in the blood below the latest layer of snow. She screamed. She told the court that she “knew that is where Rebecca had been abandoned in the snow. I was not freaked out or grossed out. None of my family was at all, whatsoever. We knew that Rebecca had been there, and though we could not see her body to say goodbye, that was a way to connect with her and what she had gone through.”
Rollins will serve 40 to 80 years in prison. He can apply for parole after serving 40 years. However, the judge recommended against parole at that point.
Rebecca Landrith – Rebecca Landrith – Tracey Ray Rollins Jr
