Accused vandal to stand trial

A woman who allegedly defecated inside the sanctuary of Tullytown's St. Michael the Archangel Church in February believed her feces would rid the parish of a hex, a police officer testified Tuesday.

The hex had something to do with 528 dead children the woman believed were buried between St. Mike's and a nearby Dunkin' Donuts on Levittown Parkway, the officer added.

That, as far as Tullytown police officer Nate Aldsworth could tell, was Sandralee Banks-Kastrup's motivation for allegedly wreaking havoc this winter on the parish and its community.

Aldsworth testified Tuesday morning at the preliminary hearing for Banks-Kastrup, a 40-year-old Bristol Township woman who police say not only defecated in the church but carved lewd words into its doors, wrote foul language in its petition book and mailed a threatening letter to the rectory.

After listening to the testimony of Aldsworth and the church's pastor, District Judge Robert L. Wagner Jr. upheld all charges against Banks-Kastrup. She'll head to trial next month in Bucks County Court in Doylestown. She remains in county prison in lieu $500,000 bail.

The most serious count against her is an institutional vandalism charge, a third-degree felony that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

Tuesday's preliminary hearing was a long time coming. Banks-Kastrup spent months in a state hospital, waiting until doctors deemed her mentally competent to attend the hearing and to stand trial, Tullytown Police Chief Patrick Priore said.

After Banks-Kastrup was charged in February, she was involuntarily committed to Lower Bucks Hospital's psych ward. But three weeks later, her husband signed her out and brought her home.

Banks-Kastrup then allegedly returned three or four times to the outskirts of St. Mike's, lurking along the property lines at night and glaring into the rectory windows, St. Mike's pastor, the Rev. Michael DiIorio said in March.