Karen Kistle spent years working at ShopRite, stocking shelves and helping customers in the supermarket chain's Northeast locations. Friends say she developed carpal tunnel in both hands from decades of repetitive work — a condition that would make it nearly impossible for her to hold a gun steady enough to take her own life, as investigators initially believed when they found her with a gunshot wound at her Pennsylvania home in 2024.
Now, those friends are finally seeing justice move forward. Anthony Kistle, 45, was arrested Tuesday morning during a traffic stop on Interstate 25 near Castle Pines, Colorado — roughly 20 miles south of Denver — ending more than two years of questions about how the 61-year-old woman actually died at her home in Dingman Township.
Background
The underlying incident occurred May 2024 at a residence on Vandien Court in the Pocono region community of Dingman Township. Karen Kistle was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound and died as paramedics attempted to airlift her to Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, according to Pennsylvania State Police statements made at the time.
For nearly three years, authorities treated the case as a suicide. But friends of Karen Kistle said the narrative never sat right with them — particularly given her medical condition affecting both hands from working at ShopRite for years.
"I cannot imagine how you can take a gun and hold a gun in a position," one friend told Colorado Springs-based ABC affiliate KRDO, questioning how someone with severe carpal tunnel could manage a self-inflicted wound. The friend also noted Karen Kistle owned her own firearm and questioned why she would have used her husband's weapon instead.
A second friend who worked alongside the victim at ShopRite said coworkers had been waiting for an arrest that seemed like it might never come.
"A lot of us, we're pretty hopeless that anything was going to be done because nothing was being said in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, where she lived," the friend told KRDO. "So we just assume that the cops were investigating."
The Charges
Pennsylvania State Police confirmed Thursday that evidence gathered at the scene, witness interviews, forensic examination and subsequent investigative findings concluded Karen Kistle's death resulted from a homicide rather than a self-inflicted gunshot wound — leading to criminal charges against her husband.
Anthony Kistle now faces three counts: criminal homicide, theft by unlawful taking involving a firearm, and theft by unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, according to Pennsylvania State Police. He was apprehended in Colorado during a traffic stop while heading northbound on I-25 near Castle Pines, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced in a press release describing him as "a murder suspect wanted in Pennsylvania for a 2024 homicide."
The case was investigated by multiple agencies under the direction of state police. Kistle is currently being held in Colorado and will be extradited back to Pennsylvania to face charges in Pike County.
Key Takeaways
- Karen Kistle, 61, died at her Dingman Township home in May 2024; her death was initially ruled a suicide
- Investigators now believe she was killed; her husband Anthony Kistle has been charged with criminal homicide
- Friends questioned the suicide ruling, noting Karen had carpal tunnel in both hands from years working at ShopRite
- Anthony Kistle was arrested Tuesday during a traffic stop on I-25 near Castle Pines, Colorado — roughly 20 miles south of Denver
- He faces three charges: criminal homicide, theft by unlawful taking involving a firearm, and theft by unlawful taking of a motor vehicle
- Kistle is being held in Colorado pending extradition to Pennsylvania for Pike County proceedings
What's Next
Anthony Kistle remains detained in Colorado as extradition proceedings move forward. No court dates have been set in Pike County, where he will face the criminal homicide charges. The Pennsylvania State Police investigation continues, and authorities have not released additional details about the evidence that led them to reclassify Karen Kistle's death from suicide to homicide.
Friends of the victim told KRDO they hope the arrest brings long-awaited answers for a woman they describe as kind and hardworking.
"We really want, you know, all her friends want justice. Justice for Karen. Because we don't feel that she really got it, you know?"