On a December 2019 evening in a wooded area just north of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, 42-year-old Mahlon Osterhout was fatally wounded while hunting whitetail deer. His companion that day, 56-year-old John J. Markel, fired at a doe from about 75 yards and later fired again after seeing movement in dense brush. Markel subsequently found Osterhout with a gunshot wound to the neck and not breathing.

Investigators reported beer cans in Markel’s vehicle and that Osterhout had alcohol and drugs in his system.

A preliminary hearing before a Magisterial District Judge was scheduled after Markel was served by summons. If anyone was in that hunting area that night or has information about what happened, please share what is known with the forum.