Penns Valley homicide investigation could take months, Centre County DA says
Several months are expected to pass before Centre County’s top prosecutor determines whether a woman was justified in fatally stabbing a man inside her Penns Valley home.
Robert Farwell, 26, arrived about 4:30 a.m. earlier this month at Brittany Guisewhite’s home in Haines Township unannounced, state police at Rockview wrote in a search warrant.
Guisewhite told police she barricaded herself in the bedroom after Farwell made a series of vulgar or degrading comments toward her. She said Farwell threatened to “kill her” and attempted to kick in the door, police wrote.
She opened the door, picked up a steak knife in her right hand and said they “lunged” toward each other, police wrote.
Farwell died of a single stab wound to the chest, county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote in a statement. His death was ruled a homicide.
He died about 6:58 a.m. at Mount Nittany Medical Center, county District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said Thursday.
Guisewhite was questioned by police the day of the stabbing, but has not been charged and is not in custody. The investigation is ongoing.
Cantorna termed the stabbing as a “domestic incident,” but declined Thursday to release additional information about the nature of their relationship.
William Farwell said Thursday that he was in Utah when he was notified of his son’s death.
It started with a phone call from one of Robert’s friends, who was reluctant to share many of the details. The police called shortly after.
The elder Farwell and some family members opted to stay in Utah until Friday morning, when they began to make the more than 25-hour drive back to Pennsylvania.
That left the family with plenty of time to think, something William Farwell said was both a blessing and a curse. There were plenty of tears, but they also tossed around memories about the avid outdoorsman.
Central to every discussion, William said, was how much the family loved and would miss Robert.
“We’ve been crushed. You’re not supposed to bury your children,” William Farwell said. “... We know that it’s never going to go away. This is something that will never go away and he’ll never come back. He’s loved and always will be.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 4:18 PM.