A judge ordered Royce and Rachel Moser to stand trial after hearing testimony about videos, phone data, searches and recovered physical evidence.
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Prosecutors have moved the Karoline Heintz homicide case beyond its initial police allegations, presenting nearly two hours of testimony about surveillance footage, cellphone information, physical evidence and statements investigators attribute to the 18-year-old’s boyfriend and his mother. A district judge ruled after the Sept. 1 preliminary hearings that the criminal charges against Royce Moser and Rachel Moser should proceed in Washington County court.
The preliminary hearing did not determine guilt. Its purpose was to decide whether prosecutors had presented enough evidence for the cases to continue toward trial. Magisterial District Judge Charles A. Tenny Jr. held all charges for court after six witnesses testified and prosecutors displayed or described dozens of pieces of evidence. Royce Moser, 18, faces criminal homicide and several related charges. Rachel Moser, 56, is accused of helping her son after Heintz was stabbed and faces charges including hindering apprehension or prosecution, evidence tampering, abuse of a corpse and obstruction.
Much of the hearing focused on how investigators reconstructed the night of Aug. 19 and the early hours of Aug. 20. Authorities presented surveillance footage and information from license-plate-reader cameras that they say followed the movements of Heintz’s gray Jeep Cherokee and another vehicle driven by Rachel Moser. Cellphone extraction evidence was also introduced. Prosecutors argued that the different sources of information supported one another and showed the defendants’ movements before the Jeep was found near the California Public Library with Heintz in its rear cargo area.
Investigators also described information recovered from Royce Moser’s phone after his arrest. According to testimony reported from the hearing, searches included questions about how to remove fingerprints, how long footage remains available on Ring cameras and whether an 18-year-old can receive the death penalty. Prosecutors presented the search history as part of the evidence surrounding the events after the stabbing. The material has not yet been evaluated by a trial jury, and the existence of a search does not by itself establish why it was made or what the person conducting it intended.
Trooper Jessica Bishop, who interviewed both defendants, provided another major part of the prosecution’s presentation. She testified that Royce Moser told her Heintz had come to his father’s North Strabane Township home and was sitting in her Jeep. According to Bishop, Moser said he tried to hug and kiss Heintz but the contact was not welcomed. He allegedly said she then said something that angered him. Bishop testified that Moser told Heintz to wait, went into the home, returned with a knife and stabbed her. Heintz then fell from the Jeep, according to the account Moser allegedly gave investigators.
Moser previously told police that a “demon” had taken over and told him to stab Heintz, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities have quoted that statement in describing his interview, but no court has accepted it as a factual explanation for the killing. The hearing instead centered on what investigators said Moser did before and after the stabbing and on physical and digital evidence they contend can be tested independently of his description of his state of mind. Moser’s attorney later declined to comment to The Associated Press about the charges.
Prosecutors say the events did not end at the North Strabane residence. Bishop testified that Moser described moving Heintz to the rear hatch of her Jeep and calling his mother. Authorities allege he then drove to Rachel Moser’s home in Beallsville. Investigators say Rachel Moser supplied cleaning materials and gloves and helped deal with items connected to the incident. The criminal complaint says she instructed her son to bathe and change his clothes, which were put in a washing machine. Police later recovered a chef’s knife from a garbage bag outside her residence after obtaining a search warrant.
Rachel Moser’s own interview also became part of the preliminary-hearing record. Bishop testified that she questioned the mother for about three hours and that Rachel Moser disclosed that her son had stabbed Heintz. Testimony indicated Rachel Moser said she did not know whether Heintz was dead or alive at a certain stage. Investigators say surveillance footage later showed Rachel Moser and her son driving separate vehicles toward California Borough while wearing blue latex gloves. When questioned about the gloves, Bishop testified, Rachel Moser said she had been cleaning up after a dog.
Another part of the prosecution’s case came from the Jeep itself and the way police found it. Heintz had been expected to return to PennWest California after spending time with family. When she could not be reached, her father contacted authorities and told them an AirTag was in the Jeep. The tracking device placed the vehicle near Wood Street in California Borough. Officers went to the area shortly after midnight Aug. 20, observed signs of blood and found Heintz in the back of the SUV. Body-camera video later released by police documented the first officer’s urgent request for emergency personnel and additional units.
The hearing connected that discovery to a broader sequence that police say began hours earlier in the driveway of Royce Moser’s father’s home. Prosecutors alleged that after the stabbing, the Jeep traveled to Beallsville before being taken to California Borough and left near the library. License-plate cameras, other surveillance footage and cellphone evidence were used to outline those movements. Investigators also testified about items recovered during searches. The state’s presentation was intended to show probable cause for the charges, not to provide the final evidentiary record that would be presented if the cases go to trial.
The judge also permitted an additional criminal-use-of-a-communication-facility charge against Rachel Moser. She already faced counts involving allegations that she helped conceal evidence and hinder authorities. Royce Moser faces criminal homicide as well as tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy and obstruction-related charges. Both defendants remain jailed without bail. Their attorneys will have opportunities in later proceedings to challenge the prosecution’s evidence, seek exclusion of material when legally appropriate and present defenses. Neither defendant has been convicted.
Heintz’s family attended the preliminary hearing as prosecutors retraced her final hours. She was a recent graduate of Peters Township High School and was starting her first year at PennWest California. She had joined the university’s women’s soccer team as a defender. After her death, California Athletics described Heintz as bright and kind and said she had much ahead of her. Her family separately asked for privacy and described the loss as devastating to relatives, friends and the wider community.
The court proceeding marked an important change in the case because details that initially appeared mainly in a criminal complaint were supplemented by sworn testimony about how investigators gathered and compared evidence. The prosecution has now outlined a case involving multiple forms of documentation rather than relying solely on statements attributed to the defendants. What those records ultimately prove, whether any evidence is challenged and what defenses are raised will be decided in later proceedings under a higher legal standard than the one used at a preliminary hearing.
No trial date has been announced. Royce and Rachel Moser are scheduled for formal arraignment Oct. 13 in Washington County Court of Common Pleas. Until the cases are resolved by pleas, dismissal or trial, the charges remain allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent under the law.
Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.