Pocono News Section

Wife of Hunting Accident Victim Speaks

Wife of Hunting Accident Victim Speaks - Friday, September 21, 2007 at 10:14PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Friday, Sep 21, 2007 @10:14pm EST

MESHOPPEN, WYOMING COUNTY- She is under police scrutiny for the death of her husband. Investigators from both Canada and Wyoming County are looking into a hunting accident that clamed the life of 42-year-old Mark Harshbarger. Now his wife is at the center of it all. For the first time since the shooting a year ago, she speaks out and it is a story you will only see on WBRE News.

It is a story that is the talk of the area - especially in Wyoming County. Police are looking into the circumstances around a hunting accident involving Mary Beth Harshbarger and her husband Mark. Now we meet and hear from Mary Beth, who says she has nothing to hide.

Mary Beth lives on the farm in Meshoppen that she and her husband Mark and their two kids shared together for 5 years. It all ended last September on a hunting trip to New Foundland, Canada. She told police that as her husband was returning to their vehicle at the end of a long hunting day, she mistakenly thought he was a black bear and fired one shot - killing him. Her two kids were also in that vehicle when it happened.

Since that fateful day there have been reports - and family members claim - that her husband had increased his life insurance long before the trip. Rumors have been running rampant about that shooting - was it really an accident?

This past week the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were in Wyoming County talking with family and friends of the Harshbargers.

Mary Beth agreed to talk with us about the incident. She makes it clear, she won't talk about specifics of the shooting on the advice of her lawyer, but she wants people to know she would never intentionally hurt her husband.

We asked, what do you want people to know about you and Mark? She answered, “I loved my husband very very, very much. He loved me as much.”

We asked what would he say about these rumors and reports? She responded, “He wouldn't be really happy at all - not happy at all."

Mary Beth Harshbarger has much more to say about the case, and we got a chance to see where she and her husband shared so many happy times. In fact they got married at their home in Meshoppen. We’ll have much more coming up on Monday.