Lebanon Daily News article from November 30, 2005

'Psychic witness' helped police solve murder

TV show will spotlight Lebanon-area woman

LEBANON - Lebanon County detectives thought they knew who killed Mark Arnold in 1993, but they didn't know where to find the perpetrator.

Jan Helen McGee told them the killer was at a beach, probably Ocean City, Md., or Rehoboth Beach, Del. Detective Paul Zechman called the police departments there and, sure enough, they found Robert Wise living in Arnold's stolen car at a shopping mall near Rehoboth.

Wise is serving a life sentence in state prison for the murder.

As a result of her help in finding the killer, McGee, who said she has had psychic abilities since childhood, will be featured on The Learning Channel program "Psychic Witness" on Thursday.

District Attorney Deirdre Eshleman said she's not sure she believes in psychics, but she can't dispute the results.

"To my mind, any help we can get is good, no matter how bizarre," Eshleman said.

"A lead is a lead," Zechman said.

Liza Douglass, associate producer of "Psychic Witness" for New Dominion Pictures, said the story was perfect for one of its episodes because "Zechman felt her help and insight pointed him in the right direction."

McGee said she has worked with many area police departments, but has tried to keep her psychic abilities private. She teaches piano and voice at Marty's Music in Annville and has taught drama, music and speech at the Harrisburg Academy, Harrisburg Area Community College and the Milton Hershey School.

"I'm really apprehensive," McGee said of her television appearance. "A lot of people are fearful or angry at psychics. But do you think angels and prophets died off after the Bible was written? Prophetic things have always been spoken of."

She said she is going public now because she wants to teach police officers how to use psychics properly and avoid scams. She never seeks money for her insights, she said.

On the night that Arnold, 61, was shot to death in the small building that he occupied in South Lebanon Twp., McGee had a nightmare about the murder, she said. The next morning, she read about it in the newspaper.

Police were skeptical. They should be, McGee said.

"There are more scams than good advice," she said. "Usually the good ones are quiet."

She called herself "a piece of the puzzle" who thinks differently. She has always been psychic, she said. As a toddler, she could sense where her mother was. She has warned friends to visit elderly relatives shortly before their deaths, and she told her students at HACC's Lebanon campus to leave the building just before fire destroyed it.

She said she can no more prove her psychic abilities than someone can prove love.

According to Eshleman, who prosecuted the case, Zechman didn't admit to her for several years that McGee had pointed him in the right direction. He told her only that "an anonymous source" had helped.

Zechman said this week it wasn't that he was embarrassed, but at the time, "you didn't go around bragging about it."

"I think it's more accepted now," he said. "Police are more progressive-minded and willing to use things they may not completely understand."

Eshleman said the motive for the murder was robbery.

McGee said she thinks it was something more. She said she thinks Wise, who knew Arnold, envied him and wanted to be him. That is why he stole Arnold's car, wallet and other personal items and was wearing Arnold's boots when he was found, she contends.

"What is creepy is that I can see the motivations of killers," McGee said.

Zechman said he has spoken about other cases with McGee and has referred her to other police departments. He and Eshleman said they are willing to use her again.

"If you say psychics are real, you run the risk of coming off as a harebrain," Eshleman said. "But it's not expensive or time-consuming. ... It doesn't make any difference if I believe it or don't believe it. Anything that leads to relevant evidence is fine by me."

MONICA VON DOBENECK: 832-2090 or mdobeneck@patriot-news.com

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