Mt. Pleasant man not guilty of attempted homicide, convicted of assaulting former girlfriend

A Westmoreland County jury Friday found a Mt. Pleasant man did not intend to kill his former girlfriend when he beat and choked her into unconsciousness and left her in the woods.

Charles P. Etling, 41, was convicted of lesser counts of aggravated assault, strangulation and reckless endangerment in connection with the June 11, 2020, incident in Mt. Pleasant Township.

Etling’s trial lasted four days this week, and the jury deliberated about three hours.

“I think it’s the right verdict given the evidence. He never had any specific intent to kill her despite the domestic violence,” defense attorney Tim Dawson said.

Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears ordered Etling to remain in jail as he awaits sentencing.

Etling testified that in a fit of anger, he punched and strangled his then 39-year-old live-in girlfriend. He asked the jury to find him guilty of assault and strangulation offenses.

Prosecutors claimed Etling’s actions demonstrated an attempt to kill the woman when he left her in a wooded area. She testified the attack occurred as the couple drove home from West Virginia, where they rented a home.

On the drive back, after stopping at two bars, Etling became enraged, punched her in the face, dragged her out of a vehicle by her hair and strangled her along the side of a road. Etling then pulled her about 50 feet into the woods and drove off, according to the prosecution.

The woman regained consciousness and about 12 hours later crawled more than two miles to a local home, where she was spotted with her lower body unclothed and her face covered in bruises and caked in mud and vegetation.

“He disposed of her body in the woods like a piece of trash,” Assistant District Attorney Christina Gongaware said.

Gongaware argued that Etling had a history of domestic violence towards his former girlfriend and that his actions that night supported the attempted homicide charges.

Dawson argued Etling had other chances to kill her if he wanted to do so and that he had no intention of ending her life when he attacked her in June 2020.

“He is not a stone-cold killer but a man who made a big mistake,” Dawson said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich by email at rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .