Woman In Court After Allegedly Robbing Bank, Murdering Her Mother
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – As a mother, a local woman is accused of putting her toddler in harm's way – and as a daughter, her alleged crime is even more disturbing.
Sarah Vercauteren is now charged with killing her mother. But that was just the beginning, according to police who say she robbed a bank just days earlier.
Vercauteren said nothing to reporters after a hearing in White Oak on charges related to attempted robbery and robbery. After she waived her right to the hearing she was then taken back to the Westmoreland County jail.
The two counties have different charges pending after what they see as a crime spree that crossed county lines.
Last week, the surveillance camera at PNC Bank in the Olympia Shopping Center in Versailles captured these pictures of Vercauteren robbing the bank. The criminal complaint says she passed a note to the teller claiming to have a gun and demanding $20 bills and got away with $320.
Earlier police say she tried to rob the subway in the same complex but was told the attendant couldn't open the register.
She was eventually arrested at a traffic stop in McKeesport when police discovered she left her 2-year-old son unattended in the car during the robberies.
But once she was arrested investigators began to link her to the beating death of her mother whose body was discovered in her Salem Twp home.Police say Dawn Marie Wagner was beaten 18 times with a hammer and strangled on New Years Eve.
State police say her mother wouldn't let the daughter use her car and that's what led to the murder.
They say she dragged her mother to the bathroom where she bound her with duct tape so she couldn't escape.
Vercauteren's next hearing is Friday in Westmoreland County for homicide charges.
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