Bellefonte man pleads guilty to killing wife

Courtney McGhee’s family spoke about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.

Her family and friends gathered in the Centre County Courthouse on Thursday to hear her accused killer admit to his crime and receive his punishment. Though family members expressed a desire to exact a much harsher punishment against Charles E. McGhee II, he will never again live life as a free man.

McGhee, 38, of Bellefonte, pleaded guilty to counts of first-degree murder and aggravated arson before Centre County Judge Katherine Oliver. He was subsequently sentenced to life in a state prison without parole.

McGhee was charged with the killing of his wife in June 2017 after firefighters responding to a house fire discovered the body of Courtney McGhee, 41, in the basement.

Police believe McGhee intentionally set the fire to destroy evidence. The Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal indicated fires had been set in three specific areas in the basement, police said, including to piles of clothing and a couch.

The fires were extinguished before they could completely destroy the basement area.

McGhee was taken into custody by state police after crashing his car along Interstate 80 in Clinton County. After being treated at the Lock Haven Hospital, he was released to police and returned to Centre County.

Prior to sentencing, members of Courtney McGhee’s family read statements vocalizing their anger toward the person whose “reprehensible actions” took the life of someone they described as a mother, daughter, aunt and friend.

Courtney McGhee’s mother, Bernadette Dill, said her daughter loved cheerleading and was very social and outgoing. She said during the marriage, McGhee was “very controlling, lazy and mean.”

She closed her statement by simply asking McGhee, “Why did you murder our daughter?”

McGhee’s daughter also made a statement before the court, detailing the night her mother was killed. She said she awoke to a room filled with smoke, startling her father who simply told her to “go.”

Before he drove away, she said she looked into his eyes and and saw “an emotionless human being.”

“That night,” she said, “I didn’t lose only my mother, I lost a part of myself.”

McGhee declined to make a statement before the court, saying that he didn’t want to have to speak his wife’s name.

“It is the wish of Courtney McGhee’s family that she be remembered as a caring, giving, devoted mother and a provider for her family,” Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said in a statement. “This was a tragic and senseless murder that reminds us that we must all be aware of the insidiousness, silence and danger that domestic violence poses.”

McGhee was also sentenced to pay the costs of prosecution and more than $22,000 in restitution.

McGhee was expected to plead guilty to the murder in December, however, the sentencing was abruptly canceled. He will immediately be transferred to a state prison.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Bellefonte man pleads guilty to killing wife."