Day-care murder case
expected to go to jury

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Will it be murder or manslaughter? Or perhaps nothing at all?
Those are questions that a jury has had to ponder in the trial of a local mother and child day care center operator accused of shooting her husband to death just before midnight on Jan. 2, 2006, at her Frankford Avenue business.
Arguments and testimony began in the murder case against Karen Grauber on Friday and continued Tuesday. As the Times went to press, jury deliberations had not begun.
Grauber, 39, formerly of the 8000 block of Rowland Ave., could face the death penalty or life in prison if the jury determines that she intended to kill her husband, Anthony Grauber, then 38.
Assistant District Attorney Yvonne Ruiz is prosecuting the case before Common Pleas Court Judge Peter F. Rogers.
Karen Grauber has admitted firing the fatal shot as the couple argued inside a commercial building at 7425 Frankford Ave. The defendant and a business partner were planning to open a day care center there within weeks. Anthony Grauber, a construction contractor, was helping renovate the place in preparation for the grand opening.
A single bullet struck Anthony Grauber in the chest. He died at the scene. Karen Grauber called 911 and told an arriving officer that she fired in self-defense as her husband had grabbed her by the neck, according to court testimony.
Both spouses carried handguns. Karen Grauber has claimed that she feared her husband might use his gun on her. Both weapons were recovered at the scene of the killing.
There were no immediate witnesses to the shooting. Karen Grauber’s business partner had been on site until about 11:30 p.m., when he left the husband and wife alone.
During a preliminary hearing last year, defense attorney Charles Peruto Jr. told reporters that Karen Grauber acted in self-defense. He later said that 15 years of abuse at the hands of her husband also contributed to his client’s actions.
Anthony Grauber’s family publicly denied that such a record of abuse occurred in the relationship.
At the time of the shooting, the couple were raising five children, ages 5 to 17.
The Frankford Avenue site would have been Karen Grauber’s third day care center. Previously, she had opened centers at 2816 Cottman Ave. and in a building leased from St. Anne’s Parish in Port Richmond.
Grauber has been in prison since her arrest shortly after the shooting. Defendants facing possible capital punishment are not eligible for bail under Pennsylvania law. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com