Before this story can be told it must first be said that both Andrew Cairns, and Deborah Silva, realize their roles in this tragic event. Both will forever have the deepest regrets and remorse for their friend, and neighbor, Ms. Marie Zienkewicz who was the real victim in this case.

On a dark February 19, 2013, an unimaginable incident took place in Warminster Township, Bucks County, PA. Andrew Cairns was embroiled in a long-standing domestic dispute with his then fiancée, Ms. Deborah Silva, regarding Silva's excessive, aggressive behaviors when binge drinking. Through his frustration, and in the throes of a complete nervous breakdown, to get Ms. Silva's attention as to the seriousness of the situation, even threatening to kill himself if Silva did not stop drinking. Cairns, sober, crying and desperate, while sitting on his bed, began sporadically, and foolishly (as described by Emanuel Kapelson, (Use of Force expert) firing his revolver approximately once per minute out a second story bedroom window, with absolutely no intention of harming anyone.  After the second shot, Silva went downstairs, exited the apartment, and called 911. 

While outside, Silva knocked on the well-lit (overhead lighting) downstairs next door neighbor's door, Ms. Marie Zienkewicz, to use her phone as Silva had locked herself outside and needed to call Cairns to open the door. Silva stayed on the phone with the 911 operator the entire time, stating to the 911 operator eleven (11) times Cairns' location. The downstairs neighbor, Ms. Zienkewicz, an 89-year-old woman, came outside and spoke to Silva for almost three minutes while the Warminster police officers watched them. Ms. Zienkewicz's voice was recorded on Silva's 911 call during this time. Clearly both women were unarmed. It is worth noting that two responding Warminster police officers, Chris O'Neill and Ron Szymborski, who were with Ofc. Sean Harold before he opened fire, were the same two officers inside Cairns' apartment 3 hours earlier, but despite Cairns' pleas to remove Silva from the premises, the officers refused to do so. Ofc. O'Neill actually pointed to Cairns' location so Ofc. Harold would know where Cairns lived. As Cairns continued to sporadically fire his pistol in the air while Silva and Ms. Zienkewicz were speaking downstairs, incredibly, and against all police training, Ofc Harold of the Warminster police department, without ever identifying his target, or knowing where the shots were coming from, discharged his weapon, the only one police officer out of seven present at the scene who fired, from 100 yards away at night, on the unarmed 89-year-old woman as she was entering back into her home killing her with a "gunshot to the back".

Clearly, this was an unjustified shooting and not self-defense. (Ofc. Harold's second fatal shooting of an unarmed civilian, also shot in the back). Officer Harold later testified that he never knew where the shots were coming from, but did state that after he shot Ms. Zienkewicz he was able to see Ms. Silva's dog walking around her body inside her apartment (there was well-lit environments, both inside and outside). These facts can be found on pages 57 and 60 of the Preliminary Hearing transcripts, available upon request for verification.  Officer Harold also testified he shot at "half a silhouette".

 Ofc. Harold testified under oath that he observed a subject, (Ms. Zienkewicz), emerging from behind her door reaching towards Ms. Silva, but this is an outright lie as Ms. Zienkewicz was actually going back inside her apartment. The state's own evidence, (autopsy photos and report), available upon request, proves Ofc. Harold committed perjury. Because the prosecutors, David Heckler and Nathaniel Spang, could not prove Cairns ever saw or shot at the police, and Ofc. Harold having no reason whatsoever to shoot at Ms. Zienkewicz, the prosecution along with their detectives and police, fabricated a story (a shootout), and evidence to deceive everyone, including Cairns and the public. Unfortunately for Cairns, he did not have the hundreds of thousands of dollars required to properly defend himself against the corruption in Bucks Co. which left him at the mercy of the Bucks County Public Defender's Office.

Attorneys Michael Lacson and Alicia Baatz were assigned to the case. Cairns knew he never shot towards the ground, never saw any police officers outside as they were allegedly 100 yards away hiding in the woods at night, let alone shoot at them. In fact, Cairns never even knew anyone was hurt that night as after twenty minutes of sporadic shooting in the air he went to sleep. With that being said, and held WITHOUT bail, instead of showing Cairns that Ms. Zienkewicz was shot in the back, and Ofc. Harold lied about how and why he shot Ms. Zienkewicz, and the prosecution now falsely claiming they recovered a bullet matching Cairns' weapon when it's actually an old piece of machinery (crime scene photos and ballistics report available upon request), the prosecution and defense counsel allowed the lies and fabricated evidence into the record and coerced Cairns into pleading guilty to a crime he did not commit.

Additionally, in an effort to help the county avoid substantial embarrassment and lawsuit(s), defense counsel deliberately abandoned their role as advocates for Cairns, and became co-prosecutors against Cairns, and convinced him the prosecution could prove 1st degree murder. This was done by withholding all beneficial evidence i.e., 1,200 crime scene photos, autopsy, police, ballistics, expert's reports, etc. from Cairns that would prove his innocence. By law, Cairns should have been given a county sentence or a fine, and Officer Harold prosecuted. It should be also noted that according to the county's records, and during Cairns guilty plea hearing, Cairns was suffering from delirium due to three (3) powerful psychotropic medications prescribed to him by the Bucks Co. psychiatrist. Cairns, scared, confused, uninformed, and unaware of what was happening to him, and with no psych evaluation ordered by Attorney Lacson or by the courts, reluctantly agreed to a 3rd degree murder charge under the highly unusual, obscure, legally confounding, and Pennsylvania-exclusive for 3rd degree murder, theory of transferred intent, which occurred only once before in US history. Through malicious prosecution, and ineffective counsel, Cairns unlawfully received a 14 to 30 year sentence plus 10 years probation, in totality, a 40 year sentence. Two years after his plea Cairns finally received some of the state court record. With this still limited evidence, three highly respected crime scene forensic experts all concluded Cairns was framed for a crime of which he is innocent of (expert's reports available upon request). In addition to the expert's opinions there are an additional (2) two opinions from respected individuals, including a fellow Warminster police officer, stating the shooting of Ms. Zienkewicz was unjustified. Now five (5) expert opinions concluded the fatal shooting of an innocent woman was unjustified.

As stated in the beginning of this narrative both Cairns and Silva have expressed their deepest regrets and remorse for the tragedy that took place this particular evening. Both have realized the parts they played, and have taken full responsibility for their actions. Together they will now live with their poor decisions for as long as they live, however, there are still those who have not admitted fault in their terrible decisions. This is why this petition was created. There must be accountability for all involved, not just the ones who were easy targets for corruption and misconduct.

  If you or someone you know has also suffered at the hands of overreaching, overzealous, corrupt and unprofessional, police departments, attorneys, and/or prosecutors, you can help us expose the corruption by signing and sharing this petition.

Please note:  We are also very interested in finding an attorney or investigative journalist to report on the full story as there are many additional shocking details not fully covered in this narrative. Thank you and God bless.

Mr. Cairns can be reached at:

•  FreeAndrewCairns@gmail.com
•  ConnectNetwork.com website
• Instagram @AGCairnsRevolution.
• X @AndrewCairns or @FreeDrew1963