Survivor of Trevose “Family Massacre” Seeks a Place to Call Home

Pt 1 (1976) The Abt Family Murders

A majority of present day Bucks Countians may know little or nothing of the name Mike Abt when it stands alone, but his name paired with the name of George Geschwendt lives on in Bucks County infamy. 

On Friday, March 12, 1976, Geschwendt ambushed Abt’s family and murdered five of the seven family members, one other person, and the family dog. Family members killed in the “massacre” were Cathy, 15, John Jr., 13, Margaret (mother), 46, Margie, 19, John Sr (father), 49, Margie’s boyfriend, Gary Engle, 20.  

For good measure, Geschwendt executed “Heidi,” the family’s St. Bernard. Geschwendt concealed the dog from sight with articles of clothing and perhaps felt some measure of guilt, according to court records. 

Mike was the first to find all six murdered. 

“My life ended that day,” he said in a whisper. 

“Everything changed for me and my brother. You can’t know what it was like to walk in that door and find that mess.”  

Pt 2: Geschwendt is Dead 

He is the last of the Trevose Abt’s. Brother Clifford died in August of 1989.

On a brutally cold Levittown night this past January, Mike had one question he wanted answered. 

“Where’s George? I heard he died and I’ve tried to find out but no one will tell me anything,” annoyed by his not knowing.   

`His bluish/gray eyes seem to change depending on the lighting or sunlight.

With sharp deep blue eyes, he said, “I have a right to know,”. 

He takes a long drag on his Maverick 100 cigarette and then said, “I wanted to kill that Motherf**er for years.

When asked what he thought when **Geschwendt was originally sentenced to death, Mike said, he smelled the aroma of revenge, but not anymore.

George Geschwendt while he was alive in Prison
Credit: Criminal Minds Wiki

He says now, maybe feeling some of that Catholic guilt, “The only person that can take another’s life is God.”  

It was a surprising response considering Geschwendt’s murderous rampage in his childhood home. He did live for many years after, somehow co-existing with the stirring of echoes. 

But it begins to make perfect sense the more you get to know Mike.  He is an enigma of sorts. 

One minute, a loner living in North Carolina with a friend, “Larry” drinking, smoking, laughing. The next minute, holding court telling stories of his misspent 20’s,30’s. etc. He is far from a perfect righteous man.  

A thin and tall white-haired man.  A spitting image of his father, sans  the dark hair. He’s a curmudgeon  of sorts. Smart. Articulate. Can tell a tale that makes you gasp because you’re laughing so hard and loud. 

He’s also caring. Calling his friend, “Larry” everyday to remind him to “take his meds.” He often does this three times a day if needed. His friend has an unrelenting form of cancer, but every morning, he calls yelling into the phone loudly “LARRY! It’s MIKE, time for your meds, man” in a high register gravelly voice.

For everything Mike went through, he is a nice man who is talkative and humorous. Describing the tragedy, he was matter of fact without sounding bitter, thus his interest in wanting to know about Geschwendt.

In February, 2023, Mike, myself and Joanne Ames took a ride back to where it all happened 47 years ago in the Trevose section of Bensalem. 

Days after the trip “back home” Lower Bucks Source (LBS) reached out to law enforcement officials seeking information on Gescwendt’s status. 

With help from state Representative K.C Tomlinson’s office, we were put in touch with Department of Corrections (DOC) Communications Director, Ryan Tarkowski. 

“He died of natural causes in DOC custody on May 22, 2020. He was housed at State Correctional Institution at Waymart in Wayne County, Pennsylvania.”

While eating lunch in January, 2023, Mike read the DOC response. He allowed for a picture to be taken, requesting to omit his face; not wanting anyone to know where he was living at the time. LBS obliged.

He said little to nothing, reading the email exchange that day twice. His  private thoughts were his own and he was unwilling to share them. 

Mike’s father John Credit: UPI wire services

Pt 3 October, 2023  

Mike, if anything, is a guarded person. So much so he’s been unwilling to allow LBS to report some facts about his current situation in this story. This past Friday, he relented and said “I’m gonna trust you…”.

He lost his trust in reporters years ago when one working for a tabloid, he says, bought him a case of beer. They drank it, got drunk and fell asleep. Days later, as ”rag publications” do, there was Mike  sounding like a psychotic loon screaming about how he should be the one to “Throw the switch” on “George.”  

He says the only reporter he ever really trusted was Kathryn Canavan who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer and has written books. She is celebrated for many of her true crime stories before the genre  became cultural phenomena. She declined to comment on the record in April about Mike. It was clear she was fond of him though. 

He said they kept in touch through the years because he “liked her” and “she respected my privacy.” He also said she was writing a book on the murders. 

Canavan would not confirm, or deny, this on the record.  

Since May, Mike has dealt with some serious medical issues. He’s been staying in an array of hotels from one end of Bucks County to the other. This past Saturday, we spoke briefly as he was getting ready to “come back to Lower Bucks until …and then who knows where he’ll go or be. 

He is a proud man in a way that can be unsettling. He refused for months to let us say what he’s been facing. He finally gave in. 

How many people do you know survived the execution style murders of six people? It’s a safe bet the answer is none. 

Mike won’t have a place to be after Monday 11 am. His health isn’t the best and quite honestly how long can a 65 + year old man survive out there? He’ll make a go of it of course, because as he has proven, he is a survivor.

He doesn’t want money either. He just wants a place to live. One “I can afford.”

“ I don’t want no pity party” he yelled at me after agreeing to let us publish a version of this story saying he’ll be out in the street. 

I’m gonna trust you. Don’t F**K me, he said in classic Mike style. 

Editor’s Note: If you want to help Mike please contact Lower Bucks Source in one of the following three ways: On our Facebook book through messenger by clicking here 2) E mailing us at lowerbuckssource23@gmail.com or call 609-362-6325 and leave a detailed message that includes contact information. LBS is NOT asking for any money and or funds to be sent to us directly.

Editor’s Note 2 Geschwendt’s sentence was reduced to six consecutive life sentences after Pennsylvania’s death penalty was found unconstitutional in 1977.