Pennsylvania Man Faces Up to 100 Years for Beating Informant, Injecting Fentanyl, and Dumping Body Off Bridge

• Brutal Killing of a Police Informant Unfolds

• The Victims Plan to Cooperate With Authorities

• A Deadly Discovery Inside a Bathroom

• The Last Supper Question That Made a Man Weep

• Lethal Fentanyl Injection and Bridge Disposal

• Phone Evasion Tactics and a Camp Counselors Discovery

• Arrests, Extraditions, and Unrelated Charges

• Guilty Plea and 100-Year Prison Sentence

Brutal Killing of a Police Informant Unfolds

A Pennsylvania man faces up to a century behind bars after pleading guilty to one of the most harrowing drug-related murders in recent Lancaster County history. Steven Gaddis, 28, admitted in court Friday to conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and intimidation of a witness in connection with the April 2024 death of 25-year-old Matthew Whisman. The case, which has drawn widespread attention due to its sheer brutality and the involvement of the victim s own cousins, offers a chilling window into the violent world of drug trafficking, witness retaliation, and the complete breakdown of family loyalty. According to court documents and reporting by WHTM, Gaddis, along with Alexander Whisman and Jeremy Absher the victim s own relatives methodically planned and executed a killing designed to eliminate a potential witness. Matthew Whisman had been planning to cooperate with police investigating a shooting in Maryland. That decision cost him his life.

The Victims Plan to Cooperate With Authorities

Matthew Whisman s fate was sealed not by a rival drug dealer or a stranger, but by the people he likely trusted most: his cousins. The chain of events began months earlier when Whisman agreed to act as an informant for law enforcement investigating a shooting incident in Maryland that occurred in January 2024. While the exact nature of the shooting has not been fully disclosed by authorities, it is clear that Whisman s cooperation was seen as a direct threat by those involved in the criminal network. On April 3, 2024, Whisman arrived at a home in East Drumore Township, a rural community located approximately 65 miles west of Philadelphia. What he believed might have been a routine gathering quickly turned into a nightmare. Gaddis took Whisman s phone and began searching through his messages. It did not take long for him to find evidence that Whisman had been communicating with police. That single digital discovery transformed Whisman from a family member into a target.

A Deadly Discovery Inside a Bathroom

Once Gaddis found the incriminating messages, the atmosphere inside the East Drumore Township home shifted instantly from casual to menacing. Court documents describe how Gaddis, Alexander Whisman (then 25 years old), and Jeremy Absher (then 17) turned on Matthew Whisman. They dragged him into a bathroom, where they beat him senseless. The violence was not random; it was calculated. After the beating, the three men allegedly forced Whisman to shower. The purpose was not hygiene but evidence destruction. By washing away blood, skin cells, and other trace evidence, the trio hoped to eliminate any forensic links between themselves and the assault. This level of premeditation suggests that the killing was planned at least in part before Whisman even arrived at the house. The shower was not an afterthought it was a deliberate step in a cover-up strategy.

The Last Supper Question That Made a Man Weep

What followed next is almost incomprehensible in its cruelty. After the bathroom beating and forced shower, the three men moved Whisman to the basement. There, they fed him. According to court documents, Gaddis approached the victim and asked a question that has since become the most haunting detail of the entire case: How would you feel if it s your last supper? Upon hearing those words, Matthew Whisman dropped his head and began to weep. He knew, in that moment, that he was going to die. The psychological torture inflicted on Whisman first the beating, then the humiliating shower, then the false pretense of a meal, and finally the explicit verbal confirmation of his impending death represents a level of sadism rarely seen even in murder cases involving drug-related violence. For the victim, the last supper question was the moment all hope evaporated.

Lethal Fentanyl Injection and Bridge Disposal

The physical act of killing followed shortly after the psychological torment. Gaddis loaded two syringes with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and capable of causing respiratory failure within minutes. The three men then forced Whisman into a vehicle. Once inside, they injected him with a lethal dose of fentanyl. The Lancaster County District Attorney s Office confirmed that the injection was deliberate and intended to cause death. After Whisman lost consciousness or died, the men transported his body to a bridge. They tossed his remains off the structure, leaving him to be discovered weeks later by an unsuspecting member of the public. The choice of a bridge as a disposal site suggests an attempt to make the body difficult to find, potentially allowing the crime to go undiscovered or to be mistaken for an accidental drug overdose.

Phone Evasion Tactics and a Camp Counselors Discovery

The killers took careful steps to avoid detection. According to police reports cited by WHTM, everyone except Gaddis left their phones at the home before the murder. This tactic, known in criminal circles as going dark, is designed to prevent law enforcement from using cell-site location data to place suspects at the scene of a crime or near the disposal site. By leaving phones behind, Alexander Whisman and Jeremy Absher hoped to create digital alibis. Gaddis, however, either chose to bring his phone or forgot to leave it a potential mistake that may have aided the investigation. Despite these efforts, the crime did not remain hidden forever. State police received a missing person report for Matthew Whisman in July 2024. As investigators looked into his disappearance, a witness came forward. Officials stated that the witness knew something horrible had happened to Matthew Whisman and specifically identified Alexander Whisman, Gaddis, and Absher as responsible. That tip proved crucial. In August 2024, a camp counselor discovered Whisman s remains on the bank of a creek near a hiking trail in Cecil County, Maryland. The location, across state lines from Pennsylvania, added jurisdictional complexity to the case but ultimately did not prevent prosecutors from building a strong evidentiary foundation.

Arrests, Extraditions, and Unrelated Charges

By October 2024, all three suspects had been charged with 11 offenses each, including murder, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, and intimidation of a witness. However, none of the men were arrested specifically for Whisman s death at the time of the charges they were already in custody on unrelated matters. Absher had fled to Mayesville, South Carolina, after Whisman s disappearance. He was extradited back to Lancaster County on unrelated charges before being formally charged with the 25-year-old s death. Alexander Whisman was already locked up at the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center, also on unrelated charges. Gaddis was being held at Chester County Prison on separate offenses. All three men were reportedly heavy drug users. According to WHTM, Gaddis was high on methamphetamine the night of the killing. Substance abuse does not excuse the crime, but it provides context for the extreme lack of judgment and empathy displayed during the murder.

Guilty Plea and 100-Year Prison Sentence

On Friday, Steven Gaddis pleaded guilty not only to charges related to Whisman s death but also to charges stemming from a shooting at a house party in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, which occurred in the same month as the killing. The simultaneous plea suggests that prosecutors had assembled overwhelming evidence against Gaddis in both cases, leaving him little choice but to accept responsibility. His sentence will range from 43 to 100 years in prison. The wide range reflects Pennsylvania s sentencing guidelines, which allow for judicial discretion based on aggravating and mitigating factors. Given the brutality of the killing, the use of fentanyl as a murder weapon, the involvement of a police informant, and the disposal of the body off a bridge, it is likely that Gaddis will serve time at the higher end of that range. He will be well into his 70s or even 120s before he becomes eligible for release. In practical terms, the sentence is a life term. The case against Alexander Whisman and Jeremy Absher is still pending. Because Absher was 17 at the time of the murder, his case may involve juvenile proceedings or a transfer to adult court depending on Pennsylvania law. The victim s own cousins now face the prospect of decades behind bars for a killing motivated by loyalty to a drug trade that ultimately destroyed everyone it touched.