A Lancaster County judge sentenced 28-year-old Steven Scott Gaddis to 43 to 100 years in state prison on March 31, 2026, for his role in the 2024 killing of a man cooperating with law enforcement. The sentencing follows a guilty plea entered by Gaddis earlier this month regarding the death of 25-year-old Matthew Scott Whisman.
The incident originated on April 3, 2024, at a home located on the 1100 block of Lancaster Pike in East Drumore Township.
According to police investigators, Gaddis looked through Whisman’s phone and found messages proving Whisman was a police informant in an active shooting investigation.
Law enforcement officials stated that Gaddis and two other men assaulted Whisman at the residence and forced him into a car.
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Investigators say Whisman was then injected with a lethal dose of fentanyl. Prosecutors reported that Gaddis and a co-defendant eventually threw Whisman’s body off a bridge to dispose of the evidence.
Whisman was reported missing in July 2024, and his remains were discovered by August 2024 near a hiking trail in Cecil County, Maryland. By October 2024, authorities had identified and charged Gaddis and two other individuals in connection with the homicide.
On March 3, 2026, Gaddis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and intimidation of a witness.
While Gaddis has been sentenced to a 43-to-100-year term, court records indicate that legal proceedings for the two co-defendants are still pending.
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