A Ferguson Township detective who cracked a cold-case murder and a Bellefonte police officer who brought an end to a major crime spree received countywide honors on Thursday.
Detective Caleb Clouse and Officer Macy Neideigh were named by the district attorney’s office as Centre County Law Enforcement Officers of the Year during a ceremony at the courthouse in Bellefonte.
“It just is an important day to reflect on a year, to recognize, really, some pretty wonderful people and some wonderful things that are done in our county that we don’t even stop to think about,” District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said of the award, which has been presented annually by his office since 2019.
Clouse played a key role in solving the murder of Jean Tuggy, who was found dead from a gunshot wound at her Pine Grove Mills home on Jan. 20, 2016. The case stymied investigators and a small community that could not imagine who would want to do harm to the 60-year-old mother, school bus driver and church librarian.
A patrol officer at the time of the murder, Clouse was a detective by 2019, when he was assigned to give a fresh perspective to the case with Special Agent Chris Weaver of the state attorney general’s office. In his review of the initial investigation, Clouse picked up on a small detail from an interview in which a witness mentioned Christopher Kowalski, Tuggy’s former co-worker at a supermarket who expressed romantic interest in her.
Working with a digital forensics expert, Clouse found on Tuggy’s computer that Kowalski had visited her home on several occasions. He also discovered that one month before Tuggy’s death Kowalski purchased a 9 mm handgun similar to that used in the killing and sold it later that year before moving to South Carolina. After tracking down the gun he sent it for comparative analysis, which found it had many shared characteristics with the one used to kill Tuggy.
Clouse interviewed Kowalski in South Carolina in February 2021.
“When [Kowalski] originally tried to explain away the evidence that the detective had acquired, [Clouse] kept pushing,” Assistant District Attorney Matt Metzger said. “He was professional. He was diligent. He built up a rapport with Mr. Kowalski and was able to push until he acquired a full confession to a premeditated killing.”
Kowalski said he killed Tuggy because he was “depressed, down and hopeless,” and having “a mid-life crisis.” He was found guilty but mentally ill on a first-degree murder charge in November and sentenced to life in prison in January.
“It is very personal to me,” Metzger said. “I rode the school bus growing up with Ms. Tuggy’s son. I have a bunch of friends and family who still live out in this area. I saw how much this affected them. I saw how much relief they experienced when this case was solved. That is thanks to Detective Clouse. It meant a lot to the people in Ferguson Township.”
Clouse said he hopes Kowalski’s arrest and conviction brought peace to Tuggy’s family and the Pine Grove Mills community that was haunted by her murder.
“There’s a lot of teamwork in this case,” Clouse said. “I know I’m here to receive this recognition, but there is a lot of other people that helped with this case. I’ve never succeeded anywhere in life without the help of others, and I don’t know of anyone else who had either.”
Neideigh was recognized for her diligence and attention to detail that led to the capture of a suspect in an escalating series of thefts, burglaries and armed robberies over seven months in 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
County law enforcement connected the crimes to the same suspect, later identified as Tre Estes-Stalnos. They included seven firearms stolen from vehicles in Bellefonte, 9 mm bullets fired into the glass doors of three State College pharmacies to gain entry and steal prescription medicines and two forcible entries into the Nittany Mall that included a store display window being shot open and money stolen.
In January 2022, Estes-Stalnos robbed a man at gunpoint at the Super 8 Motel, forcing him to remove his clothes and turn over his keys, cell phone and AirPods. The spree culminated when Estes-Stalnos lured a man to the Econo Lodge on Benner Pike near Bellefonte by using a fake profile with a picture of his girlfriend on a dating site.
When the man knocked on a door at the motel, Estes-Stalnos approached him with a gun and ordered him to hand over his wallet and phone, then struck him in the head with the gun. Estes-Stalnos got away, but an image from surveillance footage of the robbery and the photo from the dating profile were disseminated among county law enforcement.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 28, 2022, Neideigh conducted a traffic stop of a Chevrolet Malibu for minor violations. She immediately recognized the driver as the woman from the dating profile and that the passenger looked similar to the suspect. In particular, she noticed a Nike logo on his sweatpants, an inconspicuous detail from the surveillance footage image.
She took both into custody and the ensuing investigation confirmed that Estes-Stalnos was responsible for the crime spree. He was sentenced in May to 10 to 21 years in state prison.
“Officer Neideigh’s presence of mind and her attentiveness in what might be viewed as a mundane, routine aspect of police work ended the worst crime spree in recent Centre County history,” First Assistant District Attorney Sean McGraw said. “Her exemplary performance … is a lesson to us all.”
Bellefonte police Chief Shawn Weaver said Neideigh comes to work each day with the sole goal of serving her community.
“She goes above and beyond in everything that she does, always looking to improve upon herself and willing to learn, whether it’s involving criminal investigations, crime deterrence, proactive policing and especially community relations,” Weaver said. “Officer Neideigh epitomizes the term selfless service.”
Neideigh said serving her community is why she’s in law enforcement.
“The biggest gift that this job has given me is for my people, to always be there for them, to listen, give them words of advice, a shoulder to cry on, my arms for comfort.” she said. “I do this job for my people and my town.”
Clouse and Neideigh were selected for the award from among six local law enforcement officers nominated. Also recognized on Thursday were fellow nominees Penn State University Police Officer Lisa Larkin, Spring Township Detective Lucas Nelson, Patton Township Detective Tom Snyder and Penn State Detective Andrew Stager.
“It’s not an easy task for us to narrow down the list of nominees, as we are so fortunate here in Centre County to have such brave men and women ensuring that we live in safe communities and that justice is brought to victims of crime,” Deputy District Attorney Megan McGoron said. “We are also fortunate for the talented and dynamic folks we have leading investigations and the partnership between all of the police departments and the district attorneys office. It is an honor and a privilege to work alongside all of these individuals.”
PAST CENTRE COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OF THE YEAR
• 2019 – State College Officer John Aston, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jeffrey Ebeck
• 2020 – State College Detective Donald Paul, Patton Township Officer Brian Shaffer
