Bucks County man faces up to 15 years after admitting to wife's 1981 death
DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania -- A man faces 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of his wife in suburban Philadelphia almost four decades ago.
Seventy-six-year-old Wiliam Korzon also pleaded guilty Wednesday in Bucks County Court to forgery related to the 1981 death of Gloria Korzon.
Gloria Korzon went to work in Horsham on March 6, 1981, and was never seen or heard from after that. She was 37.
Police said William Korzon told her manager to terminate her due to poor mental and physical health, then he took her belongings and requested her final paycheck. She was declared dead in 1997 but her body was never found.
Korzon denied killing Gloria Korzon after his arraignment in April, telling reporters "she went to Florida."
Police reports detail Korzon's history of beating his wife dating back to the late 1960s. But during a court hearing on Wednesday, he told the court that he killed Gloria in 1981 after she shot at him inside their home, but missed. He then supposedly grabbed the gun and shot her in the head in self-defense.
"No one was there except for Mr. Korzon and Ms. Korzon and only one of them is around, and he told us his side of the story," William Korzon's defense attorney, Keith Williams, said.
The (Doylestown) Intelligencer reports that investigators alleged that he continued to forge her signature on documents and other materials for years to make it appear she was still alive, but a former girlfriend found her license, social security card, medical insurance card and voter registration at his home in 1986.
Authorities also said various police departments had investigated alleged assaults of the victim, many of which required hospitalization. The abuse was documented in letters from her to her attorney.
Williams said his client has shown remorse and wanted to unburden his soul after living with this for more than half of his life.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
