AP photos Kevin P. Eckenrode, left, has been charged with criminal homicide in the death of his girlfriend Rachel Kozlusky, right, who fell to her death from Eckenrode's 23rd-floor apartment at Pennsylvania Place, below. Click photos for larger versions.

HARRISBURG -- A Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board employee was charged with homicide yesterday after he told police he accidentally dropped his girlfriend out a 23rd-story window over the weekend.

Kevin P. Eckenrode, 25, a press aide who moved to Harrisburg from Scranton last month, is the third gaming board employee to face criminal charges in the past seven months. Two board lawyers were arrested in separate incidents last year involving intoxication and fighting inside or outside downtown bars in the capital.

In addition, questions have been raised about the thoroughness of the gaming board's personnel background checks after a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about an incomplete and still ongoing investigation into the work history of Thomas Sturgeon, a former Allegheny County police superintendent who is now a top official of the board.

"We are deeply saddened by this weekend's events. This is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved," gaming board Executive Director Anne L. Neeb said yesterday in a statement concerning the death of Rachel Kozlusky, 23. She fell to her death Saturday from Mr. Eckenrode's 23rd-floor window in a downtown Harrisburg apartment building.

Mr. Eckenrode told Harrisburg police he was dangling Ms. Kozlusky by her hands from the window during "horseplay" Saturday evening when she fell, The Associated Press reported. A police official told the AP that Mr. Eckenrode was "extremely inebriated" when police arrived.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico Jr. said authorities were looking into whether the death was an accident, the AP reported.

"Obviously, it's an unusual scenario," he told the AP. "Even if his version is true, to be holding someone out a 23rd-story window is beyond ridiculous. It's as reckless an act as I can imagine, if not malicious."

In addition to homicide, Mr. Eckenrode was charged with possession of a marijuana pipe.

Mrs. Neeb issued a brief statement through gaming board communications director Nick Hays. She was unavailable for further details and Mr. Hays declined to comment.

Mrs. Neeb said that Mr. Eckenrode has been suspended without pay from his $33,000 a year post as a communications aide.

"Before his suspension, he held an entry-level position" at the gaming board, she said. "He was a recent hire who began work in January. As is the case with all Gaming Control Board employees, his hiring was contingent on his passing a Pennsylvania state police background investigation. That investigation was ongoing at the time [of the incident]."

Mr. Hays refused to say why Mr. Eckenrode was allowed to go to work before the background check was completed. But the same thing happened with Mr. Sturgeon, who is deputy director of the Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, which has the task of investigating the backgrounds of officials of would-be casino firms.

Bruce Barron, a strong anti-casino advocate and leader of Pittsburgh-based No Dice, said that if gaming board employee background checks are inadequate, that doesn't speak well of the more important checks into gambling company officials' pasts.

"By its practice of hiring staff without properly completing background checks, the board has arguably contributed to this tragedy," Mr. Barron said.

"Clearly the board cannot be trusted to oversee gambling in Pennsylvania. If the General Assembly is not willing to take the rational step of repealing the slots law, it should at least abolish the current Gaming Control Board and start over."