5thEstate.com’s Exclusive Investigation Continues…
February 8, 2006

Did you hear about the Coroner who wanted to be on the Maury Povich show, start a Coroner’s Gift Shop and got the county to put in his own personal cell phone tower? If this sound unbelievable, then keep reading!

Cell Tower
You first read about the Attorney General’s raid on Gary Kirchner’s +$600,000 estate on 5thEstate.com, but did you know that county taxpayers spent $2,000 to put a cell tower on his personal house? That’s right, the cell reception was too bad and after all, Kirchner “…was missing calls”!

Click to see the bill and Kirchner’s handwritten note that is replicated exactly below:

“I trust you rcvd my detailed e-mail re this device. I would appreciate you honoring this necessary piece of equipment. I see no reason why you would not. I was missing calls I consulted NEXTEL. I needed a stay fix.”

After consulting with NEXTEL, Kirchner, without any authorization from anyone, contracted Triangle Communications to put an antenna and signal booster so that he could answer his cell phone! Apparently, Kirchner never heard of just forwarding his cell phone to his land-line! Lancaster County Controller, Dennis Stuckey fought paying the unauthorized and unbudgeted bills for months.

5thEstate.com has learned that three months before getting his personal cell tower, Kirchner turned in his cell phone bill with his family members phone dinged to the county! Stuckey forward the bill and other information to the Director of Purchasing, Barry Hitchcock who gave the coroner a sermon on the county’s cell phone policy! (Click to see the entire letter)

Maury Povich Show
(Click to see the letter)

In a letter dated May 23, 2005, Kirchner sent a letter to "Dear Dick, Molly and Pete;" and says in part, "...as you all know with my media connection, some good and some not so good..."! So what is a good media connection according to our Coroner? He continues, "I enclosed a copy that I have requested from the Maury Povich show. I discussed briefly with the producer and I wish to continue disucssions because I believe in this sort of thing."

(Click to see the letter)

The letter from "The Maury Show" was to take delinquent teen girls to see someone being autopsied to show the “harsh reality of death”! The Coroner was going to cut up one of Lancaster County’s dead on national TV with a Producer and a couple of teenage girls gazing on!

Kirchner argued that "As you may recall the Amish sprang into national attention for their drug usage. The FBI in Philadelphia and some of our local attorneys mounted a huge educational program that drew attention to the 6th circuit in Philadelphia."

Apparently Kirchner wanted to use the Coroner's office to be more involved in "educational endeavors"!

Coroner’s Gift Shop

(Click on logo to go to website) And what about the Coroner’s Gift shop? In an effort to make money (maybe to pay for the cell tower?) Kirchner came up with the idea of a “Coroner’s Gift Shop”?

Actually the idea came from LA California! The store in LA sells t-shirts, sweat shirts, boxer shorts, pens, various “body outline” items such as key chains, notepads!

Got someone that you just don't have any idea what to buy them? How about a 4" plastic skull? According to the website, it has "...fine anatomical detail, spring mounted jaw, snap-off top of skull." and is only $12! That's not good enough? How about a garment bag that the "Body Bag" logo on it!

While the store in LA is on BOO–verly Drive, the Lancaster County Coroner’s Gift Store was going to be on Spooky Nook Road!

The County Commissioners apparently weren’t fond of the idea!

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