POMEROY, Ohio (Court TV) — An Amish man charged with murder appeared in court on Tuesday before a gallery filled with members of his community.
Samuel Hochstetler is led into court for a hearing on May 13, 2025. (Court TV)
Samuel Hochstetler is charged with killing Rosanna Kinsinger on March 12. Investigators said she was found in her home under suspicious circumstances the next day. Those circumstances reportedly included a goat being inside her house.
While prosecutors had intended to call law enforcement to testify at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, Hochstetler waived his right to the hearing at the last minute.
MORE | Amish man charged with murdering woman found dead in home with goat
Judge Michael Barr arranged for an interpreter to be available via telephone for the hearing and asked Hochstetler whether he felt comfortable moving forward in English or if he wanted the proceedings to be translated into Pennsylvania Dutch. “I think I can proceed, but it might be easier in Pennsylvania Dutch? If it isn’t too much trouble?”
The interpreter stayed on the phone, but Hochstetler could confirm in English that he had signed the waiver for the hearing.
In a criminal complaint reviewed by Court TV, investigators said that Hochstetler admitted to detectives that he had been having sex with the victim and “put a blanket over her head during and when he was finished, he rolled her over and realized she was not alive.”
Hochstetler is being held on a $1 million bond.
