When 55-year-old Penn State University professor Ronald Bettig was reported missing by his housekeepers on Monday, August 15, 2016, police began investigating the case as a missing persons case. But after meeting Bettig’s 34-year-old girlfriend, Danelle Geier, and her 41-year-old uncle, George Ishler, at Bettig’s State College, Pennsylvania, home, they immediately became suspicious .

“I think that Danelle, that she moved in and became friends, I think that was planned from the beginning,” former State College detective Christopher Weaver said on saidairs Sundays at 6/5c on Oxygen. “For her to go in there and form a fake relationship and gain his trust. And they were going to exploit that.”

Geier and Ishler told police they were with Bettig on a beach in Delaware and last saw him on Friday, Aug. 12, when the three returned to Bettig’s home. Geier claimed he went to bed that night, and when he woke up, the teacher was gone.

“They indicated he was depressed because of the loss of his wife a few years ago,” Weaver said. “He had some mental health issues. They thought something bad had happened to Ronald Bettig.”

Two days later, police found Bettig’s vehicle abandoned near an abandoned limestone quarry. A search found his body at the bottom of a 90-foot drop.

“It was our pathologist’s conclusion that he actually survived the fall,” prosecutor Bernie Cantorna said on said. “He survived for about two days.”

But was it an accident, suicide or murder? Read on to see what the police discovered.

Dr. Ronald Bettig moves Danelle Geier into his home

When Dr. Ronald Bettig’s second wife died unexpectedly in 2011, friends and family said it sent him into a depression.

“I know how deeply he loved her,” said Fred Bettig, Ron’s brother said. “And he told me that all the time – how much he missed her. He was losing weight. And it didn’t come out. And that’s also the point where he started having some memory problems.”

By 2015, Bettig’s health problems had become so severe that he was no longer able to teach and took a sabbatical. During that time, he befriended George Ishler, whom he met at a local smokehouse. Ishler told Bettig about his troubled niece, Danelle Geier, who was struggling to provide for a young child and was homeless.

In 2016, just seven months before he died, Bettig offered him a room in his house. Their relationship quickly went from friendly to romantic.

“The life force was beginning to return to him. It had a purpose,” said Fred Bettig. “As he started having more and more conversations with Danelle, I think he started having feelings for her as well.”

Geier had lost custody of her first son to her ex-husband and was currently raising her second son alone.

“Danelle told us that Ron took care of her, fed her and sheltered her,” Brian Wakefield, a former Pennsylvania State Police investigator, said on said. “And she was paying for many of the things necessary to raise her child.”

George Ishler and Danelle Geier blame each other for Dr. Bettig’s death

Shortly after Dr. Bettig’s body was found, George Ishler contacted the police and shared his suspicions that his niece was involved in the teacher’s death – claiming that there had been tension between the couple during the holiday.

“It also suggested that Danelle had another man at Ron’s house while Ron was away that weekend,” said Geoff Rushton, a former reporter for statecollege.com on said. “And it really seems to turn the suspicion on Danelle being responsible for Ron Bettig’s death.”

But when police interviewed Danelle Geier, she pointed the finger at her uncle.

“He says he had nothing to do with it,” Cantorna said. “She says George Ishler threatened to kill her, that she’s scared. She is afraid for her child’s life.”

The reason Geier said Ishler wanted Dr. Bettig dead? Money. She told police the plan was to go to the beach in Delaware to get it.

“Danelle tells a story that George Ishler is going there to get money because he owes the teacher money,” Cantorna said. “He was angry with George Ishler for discovering that he had used his credit card for purchases that he would not have authorized.”

Geier claimed that when Ishler couldn’t come up with the money, he offered the professor marijuana plants that he grew at the quarry. Geier told police the trio and her child drove to the quarry and Ishler and Bettig left to harvest the plants, then Ishler returned alone.

“Then he asked George, ‘Where’s Ron?’ He said, “I killed him. I killed him and if you tell anyone about it, I’m going to kill you and I’m going to kill your son,'” defense attorney Deborah Lux told the said.

George Ishler confesses to killing Dr. Bettig, but calls Danelle Geier the mastermind

When the police interviewed George Ishler again, he confessed to the murder, but claimed that Danelle Geier was the mastermind behind the plot.

“His next statement was: ‘Danelle convinced me. Danelle talked me into killing him,’” Wakefield said. “He said it was because Danelle wanted (Bettig’s) money because of the will. He explained that he wrote a will, knowing that Ron’s mental state seemed to be declining, and Ron signed it.”

The will provided a reason for Danelle Geier to wish Ronald Bettig dead.

“The will says that Danelle will inherit Ron’s house and that George will become the executor of the rest of his estate,” Rushton said.

“Danelle Geier thought she had about $1 million in Disney stock and thought she would be a beneficiary,” Cantorna added, although the stock turned out to be worth $50,000.

Ishler claimed that after Dr. Bettig discovered that her credit card had been charged, Geier’s relationship was in jeopardy.

“The whole thing was coming to an end and Danelle had nowhere to go and be on the street with her baby,” Weaver said.

Both Ishler and Geier were tried together and both were found guilty of first-degree murder in April 2018 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Why did Danelle break up? Do you want to know the real reason? She lost her child. She lost custody of her child in Florida,” Cantorna said. “And he needed money. She desperately wanted her baby back. I think she thought Dr. Bettig was worth a million dollars.

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