Fatally Shot His Stepdaughter So He Could Have Sex With Her Corpse

November 21 was the last time 33-year-old Jessica Padgett was seen, having disappeared after leaving her job at Duck Duck Goose Child Care in Northampton, Pennsylvania.

When she went missing, a “Help Find Jessica Padgett” Facebook page was immediately created to help find the recently married mother of three. The page quickly drew over 8,000 members. Five days after her disappearance, her body was discovered by police buried behind her stepfather’s shed – a man she had once described as her second father.



Gregory Graf, Padgett’s stepfather, was arrested after her body was discovered, and the facts behind her disappearance are truly disturbing. Graf was responsible for Padgett’s death, and he had fatally shot her in the back of the head on November 21 for the sole purpose of having sex with her dead body – while videotaping the abuse. Police also uncovered that Graf had a marijuana-growing operation when they were searching Graf’s home. Thirteen bags of marijuana, $42,000 in cash and envelopes containing marijuana seeds were found in Graf’s basement.



On Friday, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli confirmed the recording of the act, as the footage of 53-year-old Graf having sex with Padgett’s corpse was found on Graf’s computer the day before. Morganelli said that the footage supports what Graf had confessed to investigators when he was charged with homicide a month earlier: he had killed his stepdaughter so that he could have sex with her dead body. Morganelli said:

“He videotaped it, so there’s a videotape of him abusing the corpse sexually. I believe it was a direct motive, in my opinion, and that’s what we’re going to be arguing.”

Although Morganelli wouldn’t reveal the specifics of what the footage revealed, he said Graf committed several sexual acts against Padgett. Although Graf has been charged with homicide, Morganelli cannot seek the death penalty because Pennsylvania law states that prosecutors can pursue capital charges only when murder in perpetration of a felony is an aggravating factor. The sexual abuse of a corpse does not rise to that level. Morganelli said:

“It is not a capital case. We’ve reviewed the aggravating factors.”

On Monday, Morganelli will file the abuse of corpse charge, which is appropriate when someone “treats a corpse in a way that he knows would outrage ordinary family sensibilities.” Hopefully there is enough evidence to put Graf away for life.