A bail bondsman turned bounty hunter has been jailed on charges he was simultaneously married to a 43-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter, and illegally possessed weapons by working in Pennsylvania under an alias.
The suspect is charged under the name Christopher Hauptmann, though authorities believe his real last name is Buckley and he has a felony drug conviction in New Jersey.
That conviction prevents him from legally owning guns, which prompted the 44-year-old bail bondsman to be arraigned Tuesday on four counts of illegal weapons possession in addition to the bigamy count.
Online court records don’t list a defense attorney, but the suspect told a judge at his arraignment that hundreds of criminals he’s posted bond for would run “buck wild” if he weren’t allowed to remain free to check on them.
“I have always been on the side of the law, and I have had police back me up several times,” he told the judge.
But Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz convinced a district judge to jail the suspect unless he posts $300,000 bond. That hadn’t happened by Wednesday, court records show. He also told the judge that the investigation was continuing and he expected additional unspecified charges will be filed.
Hauptmann/Buckley’s dual identity became known when he applied for a concealed weapons permit over the summer. That’s when a sheriff’s deputy noticed Hauptmann looked just like Buckley and further checking showed Hauptmann’s fingerprints matched Buckley’s, according to a criminal complaint.Matulewicz couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
In checking the suspect’s background, they also determined he was married in Florida to Shannon Deitrich-Durovick in November 2015. That woman has told investigators there’s never been a divorce filed for or granted to dissolve the marriage, according to a criminal complaint.
Nonetheless, the suspect married that woman’s daughter, now known as Kaylee Hauptmann, in September. She lives with him in Shamokin and co-owns PA Bail and Recovery in Coal Township, where they also work as bounty hunters.
“We are still operating,” Kaylee Hauptmann told The (Sunbury) Daily Item on Tuesday. “I will not comment on this case or my mother’s claims.”
Kaylee Hauptmann declined additional comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Deitrich-Durovick, who now also lives in Shamokin, declined to immediately comment when reached through her Facebook page.