Harrisburg police charged Jonathan Gatto with first-degree murder, alleging he strangled Dr. Julia Pederson and set a fire in their home.

The complaint is an accusation. An affidavit and a homicide ruling are not a conviction. Gatto is held without bail, and Daily Voice reported a preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 28.

FOX43 reported that Harrisburg police charged Jonathan Alan Gatto, 41, with murder of the first degree, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of children, arson, and aggravated arson in the death of his wife, Dr. Julia Pederson, 41. CBS 21 reported the same counts. Daily Voice, which said it obtained the criminal complaint and affidavit on Thursday, Oct. 15, reported he is held at Dauphin County Prison without bail after an arrest on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and that a preliminary hearing is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, before Magisterial District Judge J. Matthew Pianka. FOX43 reported Wednesday night that he was in Dauphin County Prison and had been denied bail. PennLive reported he was arrested Wednesday and had not been arraigned as of that story. The fact those accounts share is the custody: he is in Dauphin County Prison without bail.

Fire crews went to the home in the 2900 block of Green Street on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 10, FOX43 reported. Daily Voice, citing the affidavit of Harrisburg Police Detective Jon Fustine, reported firefighters were sent to 2920 Green Street at about 7:05 a.m., found light smoke, and carried Pederson out unresponsive. They performed CPR on the lawn until EMS took over, and she was pronounced dead at Penn State Health Holy Spirit Hospital, Daily Voice and PennLive reported. Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline told investigators it was "a very small fire" in a lower-level bedroom, Daily Voice reported. CBS 21 reported the blaze was small and confined to a lower-level bedroom. Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Trooper Ryan Kemerer classified the fire as incendiary, meaning it was intentionally set, Daily Voice reported. A blood test, which Daily Voice reported measured carboxyhemoglobin, showed Pederson was dead before the fire, the affidavit said, according to Daily Voice and CBS 21. Forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross performed an autopsy Tuesday, Oct. 13, and ruled the death a homicide caused by multiple traumatic injuries, Daily Voice reported. CBS 21 reported the coroner ruled the death a homicide by multiple traumatic injuries on Oct. 13. PennLive reported Ross determined she had been strangled and then set on fire. The criminal complaint alleges Gatto strangled her and set her body on fire while their 7-year-old daughter slept upstairs, Daily Voice and CBS 21 reported. The daughter is not named here.

Gatto agreed to talk at the Harrisburg police station around 11:50 a.m. Saturday after Miranda warnings, Daily Voice reported. He told Detective Fustine the marriage was "not good," that they were separating, and that they had been trying to decide when and how to tell their daughter, according to that account of the affidavit. CBS 21 reported he said they intended to separate and were trying to figure out how to talk to their daughter about it. He said Pederson was supposed to take their daughter to ballet on Friday, Oct. 9, but came home from work feeling ill after starting migraine medication, Daily Voice reported. FOX43 reported he told police she had not been feeling well from migraine medication and that they were in the process of separating. He said that around 11 p.m. Friday or midnight Saturday he heard a loud noise like someone falling down the stairs, looked toward the basement steps, and saw nothing, Daily Voice reported. When he asked if she was okay, she mumbled and he heard her bedroom door close. He said he set a 2 a.m. alarm to bring her ibuprofen, that she was startled when he came in and said she did not want anything, and that he went back to sleep. CBS 21 reported the same sequence, including that she was startled. He said he later woke to smoke detectors, got their daughter out, called 911, went back inside, burned his hand reaching into her bedroom, and waited outside, Daily Voice reported. FOX43 reported he said he burned his hand trying to get her out and then waited for help. The affidavit says he did not mention anyone else in the house, and that he and the daughter were the only other people there, Daily Voice reported. That interview is his account. It is not a finding.

Pederson was a pediatrician with UPMC Children's Community Pediatrics, FOX43 and PennLive reported. PennLive reported she attended Harvard and Stanford, and that neighbors said the family had moved to Harrisburg from California about a year ago. Daily Voice reported she joined UPMC in February 2026 and worked in Camp Hill and Harrisburg. UPMC told PennLive, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of Dr. Julia Pederson, a beloved pediatrician and valued member of our UPMC Children's Community Pediatrics team." The health system asked that the family's privacy be respected. PennLive reported the homicide was the eighth in Harrisburg in 2026.

A first-degree murder charge is the most serious count on the complaint. It does not decide the case. The preliminary hearing on Oct. 28 is the next date Daily Voice reported from court records. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.