Mother acquitted in daughter's stomping death claims remains

By Matthew Junker

A Johnstown woman who was acquitted of assisting in the 1992 killing of her adopted daughter in Fayette County is in line to receive her remains.

Roberta Gillin, 54, was acquitted in June 2002 of complicity in the stomping death of her daughter and the subsequent burning of her corpse to cover up the crime.

The killing of Helen Gillin, 25, was not discovered by authorities until 1995. No one was charged until 2000 because a body could not be found.

James Gillin, Helen's father and Roberta's husband, was convicted at trial in 2001 of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. He is serving life plus five to 14 years in prison.

Roberta Gillin said she will do whatever she can to keep Helen away from her other daughter, Mary Jo Overly, who testified against her at her 2002 trial.

"Mary Jo lied so much. She doesn't deserve Helen. If she would have told the truth, her father would have got involuntary manslaughter. She's got to live with herself for that," Gillin said.

According to Gillin, many of the gruesome facts that Overly testified about didn't occur. Gillin told jurors that she caught Helen sexually abusing her grandchildren and James took Helen outside, where he slapped her. Gillin said her husband told her she fell and hit her head on a rock and died.

Overly testified that she witnessed the killing and heard her sister being stomped to death after Roberta Gillin tried to poison Helen but failed. She said her mother hounded her father to kill Helen because he was having an affair with her.

Overly could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but she has contacted the Fayette County Coroner's Office in an attempt to claim her sister's remains.

Deputy Coroner Roger Victor said state law mandates that parents are to be given remains before siblings. Helen Gillin was mentally retarded and never married.

He confirmed that, barring a court order, Helen Gillin's bones will go to her mother once paperwork is completed.

Gillin said Overly has contacted her through an intermediary and demanded that she sign a waiver and allow the remains to go to Overly.

"I won't do it. I feel I have a right to her remains," Gillin said.

While Helen Gillin's bones are now the subject of a family feud, they were nearly buried in a Fayette County pauper's cemetery for want of any relative to claim them 11 years after her death.

Once the coroner's office published the fact that Helen was to be buried next week, both Overly and Gillin stepped forward.

Gillin said she plans to keep her daughter's remains at her home.

"She grew up in Johnstown. I'm her mother, and I loved her. Mary Jo never loved her sister. She's going to come home with me," Gillin said.