A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for shooting and dismembering his estranged wife's boyfriend. Terry Lynn Parker, 48, was convicted after a brief jury deliberation in a Bradford County court. The killing took place in March 2024 at a rural home.
Terry Lynn Parker lured 40-year-old Michael Pruitt from North Carolina to a home in Columbia Crossroads under false pretenses. On March 8, 2024, Parker arrived armed with a pistol and brass knuckles, shot Pruitt in the chest, chased him to the master bedroom, and fired two more shots into his skull execution-style. Parker's wife, Ronda Parker, was present in the bedroom holding a two-year-old child at the time, according to trial testimony from the Bradford County District Attorney's Office news release. Prosecutors stated that after the killing, Parker wrapped the body, placed it in his car trunk, and drove to Harrisburg while running errands, including stopping for ice cream with children in the vehicle the next day. Parker later recruited his girlfriend, Summer Heil, to help dispose of the remains. The pair bought an ax and supplies, then dismembered Pruitt's body and burned it in a firepit outside the home, while Ronda Parker cleaned blood from inside. Authorities recovered human bones from the firepit with help from forensic anthropologists, confirming Pruitt's identity. A jury convicted Parker of first-degree murder and related charges after a four-day trial, deliberating for less than 35 minutes. Judge Evan S. Williams III imposed the life sentence immediately. Ronda Parker pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and awaits sentencing; Heil pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension and is serving time. Parker claimed Pruitt had abused his children, but District Attorney Richard Wilson rejected this, stating, 'Terry Parker murdered Michael Pruitt because Pruitt was replacing him as a father figure, and was rekindling a relationship with Parker's wife. Terry Parker couldn't tolerate that loss of control.'