Haunted By The Blue Eyed Six? [Lebanon Daily News, Pa.]

<chron>Oct. 05</chron>--Are the spirits of the Blue Eyed Six, the <org>Lebanon Valley's</org> most infamous murderers, haunting the <location>Lebanon Farmers Market</location>?A paranormal team from <location value="LU/us.pa.readin" idsrc="xmltag.org">Reading</location> conducted the first paranormal investigation of the market last month and obtained evidence that suggests the answer might be yes."I would put this investigation in our top 10 because it was so fascinating," said <person>Kenny Weikel Jr</person>., director and founder of <org>Quest Paranormal Society</org>.Weikel's team is widely known for its June appearance on the Travel Channel's "Paranormal Challenge," hosted by <person>Zac Bagans</person> of "Ghost Adventures," and their October appearance on Animal Planet's "The Haunted."The 30,000-square-foot historically restored market sits off <location>Eighth Street</location> between <location value="LU/us.pa.cumand" idsrc="xmltag.org">Cumberland</location>and Chestnut streets in downtown <location value="LU/us.pa.lebnon" idsrc="xmltag.org">Lebanon</location> and is home to 30 vendors, the Lebanon Picture Frame and Fine Art, <org>The Market House Bakery & Cafe</org>, and <org>Niko's Restaurant</org>.But in the 19th century, the site served as the <location>Lebanon County Courthouse</location> and Jail, where the <org>Lebanon Valley's</org> most infamous murderers were jailed and then hung in the courtyard on the property in 1879.The notorious story goes like this:Five men with blue eyes were hung for the drowning death of a hermit named <person>Joe Raber</person>, whose body was found in an Indiantown Gap creek in <chron>December 1878</chron>. The sixth blue-eyed man was acquitted.The Blue Eyed Six, as the cabal came to be known, reportedly took out a policy on Raber, who was neither friend nor relative, and killed himto collect.The crime occurred at a time when life insurance beneficiaries did not need to know the insured, as long as that person agreed to the arrangement.To this day, the old stone foundation of the courthouse remains intact in the basement of the market where the jail cells once housed the Blue Eyed Six.<person>Carla Henry</person>, manager of the farmers market, said several employees have had strange experiences, including hearing things moving around in the basement, and an eerie problem with a point-of-sale system at <org value="ACORN:4231380345" idsrc="xmltag.org">Nikos</org> that wouldn't stop spitting out receipts, including one that printed out <money>$6.66</money>.Henry contacted <org>Quest Paranormal Society</org> because of what looked like movement in the market window that was caught with a surveillance camera. Upon investigation, Weikel said, the team determined there was a "natural earthly explanation.""In the windows they saw what looked like stick figures as they moved through the windows," he said. "These windows inside the market are about 17 1/2 feet off the ground. We tracked it down that there was a work crew in the business next to the market the night the footage was shot. The workers were moving around inside that building, and it shone through the market."However, Weikel said, the investigators found the history of the market interesting and decided to conduct an overnight investigation anyway.Quest uses a variety of elements, such as video, audio and personal experience, to determine if paranormal activity is present at a location.Overnight on <chron>Sept. 11</chron>, the paranormal team, comprised of Weikel, <person>Kevin Service</person> and <person>Erik Julian</person>, conducted a six-hour investigation and have several pieces of evidence from the balcony and the basement.The team used a Ghost Box, which is a radio frequency device used as a medium for direct communication, on the balcony above the market floor.Here, Julian reached out to <person>Henry F. Wise</person>, one of the Blue Eyed Six, and received a clear answer of "what.""It was one of the strongest disembodied voices I've ever heard," Weikel said.Julian then asked, "Is there a <person>Henry F. Wise</person> here from the Blue Eyed Six?" He received a direct reply over the Ghost Box of "I'm dead."Other answers the team received through the night were "yes" and "blue eyes.""That is so clear!" Henry said as she listened to the evidence Weikel presented on a laptop. "I think it's interesting. It's such an old building. Lots of history here."The team also went into the basement, where they used a K-II meter, otherwise known as an electromagnetic field detector, a device that measures electromagnetic field and frequency. When the EMF detector is exposed to a magnetic field, the strength of the field is expressed visually on a light-up scale."We had several hits in the basement," where the jail cells were located, Weikel said. "The (detector) was giving us direct responses to specific questions. We threw out every name of the every Blue Eyed Six member. We really dug into it."Also recorded that night was an unexplained noise phenomenon that sounded like a tool dropped on the floor. Henry and a maintenance employee listened to the recording and said it didn't sound like a typical noise at the market.Aside from the surveillance footage, Quest was able to provide natural explanations for some of the strange noises, shadows and lights switching on and off that employees have reported experiencing."We go in on a level plain," Weikel explained. "We're not assuming it's paranormal at all."The team members said they plan to return to investigate the building further because of the experience.<org>Quest Paranormal Society</org> was founded by Weikel and his wife and fellow investigator, <person>Elaine DeAngelo-Weikel</person>. By day, Weikel is the owner of KJ Handyman Service of <location value="LU/us.pa.readin" idsrc="xmltag.org">Reading</location>, and DeAngelo-Weikel provides on-the-spot financing for used cars at JD Byrider in <location value="LU/us.pa.shiton" idsrc="xmltag.org">Shillington</location>. By night, <org>Quest Paranormal Society</org> investigates paranormal activity claims throughout <location value="LS/us.pa" idsrc="xmltag.org">Pennsylvania</location>.<org>Quest Paranormal Society</org> will host a <chron>Halloween</chron> bash and live paranormal investigation from <chron>7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28</chron>, to <chron>2:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29</chron>, at the <location>Farmers Hope Inn</location>, <location>3180 Lebanon Road</location>, <location value="LU/us.pa.maneim" idsrc="xmltag.org">Manheim</location>. It will include a spirit talk with psychic medium <person>Michele Livingston</person>. Tickets are <money>$60</money> each. The costume theme is period attire from the late 1700s to the 1940s. Costumes are optional but encouraged. For more information, call the inn at (717) 664-4673 or email <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>; 272-5611, ext. 139___(c)2011 the Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, Pa.)Visit the Lebanon Daily News (Lebanon, Pa.) at www.ldnews.comDistributed by MCT Information Services