Pottsville killings devastate family

By Jeanne Bonner

The Morning Call

March 23, 2008

Norman Nickle's Pottsville home was a gathering place for neighborhood children.

His friendship was valued by Joshua Yevak, whose body and that of his girlfriend, Cayla Turner, were found in Nickle's blood-splattered basement on Thursday. The teenagers had been missing for several weeks.

Yevak's family is still struggling to comprehend the possible involvement of the long-time family friend and former neighbor, who is known as Eddie, in the 19-year-old's murder. Police have charged Norman Edward Nickle, 53, with homicide and aggravated assault in the fatal shootings of Yevak and Turner, 17.

''Eddie was a nice person. He was always sitting out front. He talked to all the kids in the neighborhood,'' said Joshua Yevak's mother, Amy Yevak, 44. ''It wasn't like he was a predator.''

The bodies of the two teenagers were found stacked in the basement of Nickle's apartment, and covered with a blanket because he didn't want to look at them while he was doing laundry, police said.

In 1994 and again in 1997, Nickle pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, according to Schuylkill County court documents. He's also pleaded guilty to other charges over the years, including trespassing and public drunkenness. Yevak said Nickle did not work because of a seizure disorder.

Yevak's mother said the family has known Nickle for at least 15 years. He was not Joshua's uncle, as some people thought. In a telephone interview Saturday from the family's new home in Souderton, Montgomery County, she said her son continued to see Nickle even after the family had moved away. She said Joshua never mentioned anything about Nickle that caused her alarm.

Nonetheless, Yevak said Nickle was acting strange on March 15 when she and her husband, Bruce, drove to Pottsville to look for Joshua and his girlfriend, Cayla Turner. As they drove through Pottsville, they saw Nickle walking down the street with a case of beer in one hand and groceries in the other, Yevak said.

By the time they parked the car, Nickle was nowhere to be seen. When they found him, Nickle spoke with Yevak's husband, but would not let him near his home. Yevak said he then made a series of odd comments, and appeared to be trembling.

''He said 'I think they got aced,''' Yevak said. ''We said, 'What do you mean?' No one would say that to a parent who has a child missing.''

Bruce Yevak told Nickle the police would probably stop by his house since Joshua had visited him before he disappeared.

''He said, 'Oh, Bruce I am in big trouble,''' Amy Yevak said. ''My husband said , 'Why? Because you were giving him beer?''

Nickle then ushered the Yevaks back to their car. Yevak said she asked neighbors to call Nickle and asked the police to search his apartment.

''I was just begging someone to look inside that house, and no one would help us,'' Yevak said.

Police said they got a call on Thursday that two bodies had been found in Nickle's apartment at 700 N. 13th St. They found large blood stains on the carpet and Nickle lying awake on his bed with a shotgun at his side, police said. There were signs that blood had pooled in several areas.

After his arrest, police said Nickle gave a rambling statement in which his story changed several times. He first told investigators he awoke to find the bodies in his apartment. He later told them he accidentally shot Yevak with a 12-gauge shotgun after Yevak shot Turner.

Yevak had a gunshot wound in his left arm and chest. Turner was shot in the left thigh and back of her head, according to the Schuylkill County coroner.

Turner and Yevak, who worked in construction and landscaping, had been dating about three months, friends and family said.

Turner's grandfather, who answered the phone Saturday at the Port Carbon home of her mother, Alethea Viars, said, the family does not want to comment until they have more information.

jeanne.bonner@mcall.com 610-820-6539

Copyright © 2008 The Morning Call, All Rights Reserved.