Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have laid out a substantial body of evidence against Royce Moser, 18, who is accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend, soccer player Karoline Heintz, also 18, and his mother, Rachel Moser, 56, who is charged with helping dispose of the body. Heintz was found stabbed to death in the back of her Jeep near the California Borough Library, Washington County, in the early hours of 20 August, with prosecutors alleging the pair worked together to conceal the killing. The case has drawn attention for the disturbing detail of the evidence presented and the fact that a parent is accused of assisting a child in covering up a murder.

At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented six witnesses and 32 pieces of evidence, including photographs of black kitchen knives stuffed into a bin bag, blood-stained latex gloves, blood dripping from the Jeep's boot, and blood-soaked clothing recovered from a washing machine. Home surveillance footage reportedly shows the pair together shortly after the killing, with Royce wearing gloves. Phone records allegedly show Royce searching online for "what removes fingerprints from objects," how long Ring camera footage is stored, and whether an 18-year-old can receive the death penalty, roughly an hour before Heintz's body was discovered. Neither defendant has yet entered a plea.