Community Corner

Spring-Ford Teen's Alleged Killer Waives Hearing, Heads To Trial

Tristan Stahley, 16, will head to trial on charges of first- and third-degree murder, in connection with the stabbing death of 17-year-old Julianne Siller.

Written by Keith Heffintrayer

A Skippack teen charged in the stabbing death 17-year-old Julianne Siller waived his preliminary hearing on Wednesday afternoon, paving the way for his formal arraignment at the Montgomery County Courthouse in the coming months.

Tristan Stahley, 16, waived charges of first- and third-degree murder to county court on Wednesday, according to reports. Neither he nor his attorney spoke to the media following the two-minute hearing, the report states.

Those charges were filed against Stahley in May, after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend of five months in the throat during an argument. Her body was discovered off of a trail in Skippack's Palmer Park a short time later.

The incident that led to Siller's death began at Stahley's home on Rittenhouse Lane, where he and Siller were overheard arguing by his parents. The couple then drove to Palmer Park, where they continued to argue while walking the trail.

According to the district attorney, Stahley then used an orange-handled EMT knife to stab Siller multiple times – including in the throat – before dragging her body into the woods and returning to his home. 

Upon his return home, Stahley reportedly confessed to his parents that he had killed Siller, and he told his mother that he couldn't go to jail and wanted to kill himself, according to a report by the Mercury. Police were dispatched to the Stahley home a short time later, where they saw Stahley's father wrestling a knife away from his son's throat, the report states.

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After police separated the two, Stahley again allegedly confessed to killing Siller, and directed officers to where the he had hidden the body, according to 6ABC. Stahley was then taken into custody, where he was later charged with murder and related offenses.

Stahley has been remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail, as he now awaits his formal arraignment.

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Prior to Siller's death, friends had tried to warn her of her boyfriend and "his troubles," according to CBS3.

"We always told her to keep your distance and break it off," said Rhett McDonald, a friend of Siller's, in an interview with CBS3.

Stahley's parents withdrew him from Perkiomen Valley High School for unknown reasons in February, and he also had made implied threats to one of Siller's friends on Twitter earlier in the month.

His Twitter account has since been taken down.

In the wake of Siller's untimely death, friends and family formed a makeshift memorial at the park entrance, and took to social media to express their grief.

“I can't even believe someone could do this to you,” “You were the happiest most caring girl in the entire world.”

Friends on Twitter also began using the #RIPJulie hashtag, while others on Facebook created a R.I.P. Julianne Siller group.

Siller was scheduled to graduate from Spring-Ford Area High School on June 13.


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