Whitehall woman’s handyman pleads guilty in her 2019 murder

WHITEHALL, Pa. — A man pleaded guilty on Monday in the 2019 murder of 67-year-old Elizabeth Wiesenfeld.

Douglas Berry pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, burglary, theft and receiving stolen property.

In exchange for the plea, the Allegheny County District Attorney Office said it agreed to a sentence of 17 to 40 years in prison.

Wiesenfeld was reported missing on April 30, 2019 to the Whitehall Police Department.

Nearly a year later, an officer on patrol in Plum made the discovery of human remains in a garbage bag in an illegal dump. Those remains were identified as Wiesenfeld’s.

Police found blood in Wiesenfeld’s bed and then learned a person in a mask used her debit card at a PNC Bank branch in Whitehall.

That investigation into her disappearance led to the arrest of Berry for criminal homicide.

He was a handyman employed by Wiesenfeld to take care of several properties. Using surveillance cameras, license plate readers and cellphone towers, investigators were able to track most of his movements on the day in question.

Berry was initially arrested on weapons charges after police found a gun during a search of his home.