Pocono News Section

George Banks - 25 Year Later

George Banks - 25 Year Later - Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 10:56PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007 @10:56pm EST

They are images that linger in the memory of many people in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania. 40-year -old George Banks was arrested for killing 13 people on September 25, 1982. 5 of the victims were his own children.

Banks was armed with an assault weapon and gunned down his victims at the Heather Highlands trailer park in Jenkins Township and at his home on School House Lane in Wilkes-Barre.

Investigtaors say his own children were asking him what he was doing even as he opened fire and shot them to death. Another victim, a young man, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he encountered Banks on School House Lane and was shot dead.

He was holed up in a home on Monroe Avenue for hours as police negotiators tried to talk him out. In fact, a false radio news report, saying his kids were alive, helped push him into surrendering.

It was a mob scene everywhere Banks went in the days and weeks after the mass murder. Those days were also filled with funerals for the victims and questions as to why he did it.

His case captured worldwide attention. He was convicted and sentenced to death. That was 25 years ago, and he remains on death row, facing and winning legal challenge after legal challenge.