Tag: pennsylvania death row

Stephen Treiber Pennsylvania Death Row

Stephen Treiber pennsylvania

Stephen Treiber was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of a two year old girl. According to court documents Stephen Treiber would set fire to his house killing his two year old daughter. Stephen Treiber would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Stephen Treiber 2022 Information

Parole Number: 308DR
Age: 52
Date of Birth: 04/30/1969
Race/Ethnicity: WHITE
Height: 6′ 01″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX

Stephen Treiber More News

On the night of March 9, 2001, Stephen Treiber set fire to his home while his girlfriend, Denise Riddle, and his two-year-old daughter, Jessica, slept inside. As the home burned, appellant and Ms. Riddle escaped, but Jessica remained in her crib until firefighters removed her; however, they were unable to revive her. Appellant was charged with criminal homicide, reckless endangerment, and multiple counts of arson; the Commonwealth gave notice of its intent to pursue the death penalty.

Appellant’s neighbor, who went to help after seeing smoke emanating from the home, testified at trial that appellant and Ms. Riddle were standing on a second-story deck, and Ms. Riddle screamed for help while appellant calmly stood by with his arms folded. Stephen Treiber asked about the well-being of his dogs but, when referring to Jessica, said, “[T]he firemen will get her. She’s probably dead anyway.” N.T. Trial, 9/30/02, at 97. A fire marshal who investigated the scene testified the fire had been started at two points of origin—one in the basement and the other in the garage—using gasoline, clothing, straw, and candles. He noted the home’s security system had been disabled and one wire had been cut. The marshal also observed a chain ladder affixed to the residence, which, he reasoned, had been recently tethered to the home because it had no signs of rust. Members of the fire and police departments also testified Jessica’s bedroom door was open, and stated appellant was unusually calm and inquired only about his dogs. At the scene, police told appellant they were searching for Jessica, to which he responded, “[W]ell, it’s probably too late anyway.” Id., at 242.

At trial, Ms. Riddle described Stephen Treiber as very controlling, stating he implemented and enforced rules that shoes not be worn in the home, and that bedroom doors be closed and locked. Ms. Riddle also mentioned appellant had previously forbidden her from going to a local bar, once even threatening to burn it down if she went there again. She testified that, during the fire, appellant escorted her and two of their dogs onto the deck, but told her he could not rescue Jessica because “the smoke was too bad[.]” N.T. Trial, 10/2/02, at 124–25. Yet, Ms. Riddle recalled she did not observe much smoke at that time. She also testified that after Jessica was pronounced dead, appellant instructed her not to talk to police, and when she expressed her sorrow of Jessica’s death to appellant, he replied they “could always make another little Jessica[.]” Id., at 136.

The Commonwealth introduced extensive evidence of appellant’s preparatory activities and behavioral changes. Weeks before the fire, appellant became obsessed with fire safety, making Ms. Riddle and her 22–year old son, Erik Keith, practice fire-evacuation routes. One month before the fire, appellant purchased straw on four separate occasions, along with two five-gallon gas cans, and he bought gasoline on two separate occasions the day of the fire. The week before the fire, appellant affixed a chain ladder to the residence as a means of escape. Four days before the fire, appellant called an ADT Security Services employee to his home to update his security system. He disclosed to her he knew how to disable the security system and said a fire might start in his home in a few days. A funeral director testified that during meetings with appellant for Jessica’s funeral arrangements, he did not show emotion and repeatedly referred to Jessica as “it.” N.T. Trial, 10/3/02, at 161.

Evidence of appellant’s motive and intent was also introduced at trial. Appellant’s unwillingness to pay child support was established by testimony from Jodie Treiber, Jessica’s mother. Ms. Treiber stated appellant had a visitation weekend with Jessica scheduled for March 9—the weekend of the fire—but appellant insisted he take Jessica early, i.e., the previous Tuesday of that week. When appellant picked up Jessica, Ms. Treiber informed him she intended to increase his child-support payments. Jamie Pianta,1 who accompanied appellant and Mr. Keith on the trip to pick up Jessica, testified appellant discussed his plans to kill Jessica to avoid paying child support, stating he would use rope, gasoline, straw, and candles to start a fire in the home. Mr. Pianta said appellant expressed the same plans to him and Mr. Keith about one month earlier, during another trip to pick up Jessica. Other witnesses testified about appellant’s financial motives for the murder. For instance, one month before the fire, appellant tried to increase the limits on his credit card and his homeowner’s insurance, and sought to purchase life insurance on Jessica, naming himself as beneficiary. He also changed his automobile comprehensive deductible but did not alter his collision insurance.

The Commonwealth established appellant took steps to make it appear that someone else started the fire. Specifically, it asserted appellant, about six weeks before the fire, contrived a threatening note and surreptitiously attached it to his own mailbox, arranging for Ms. Riddle to find it and report it to police. The Commonwealth contended the note was appellant’s effort to cast suspicion away from himself and onto an unknown intruder. The note, which was comprised of letters cut from printed materials glued onto the paper, was addressed to “Steve,” and said, “[G]et rid of dogs or I kill them and burn you out again.” N.T. Trial, 10/2/02, at 88–89. Earlier that day, appellant called Ms. Riddle and told her someone was lurking around their home. When police arrived to investigate, appellant told them the doorbell rang earlier in the night but no one was there, and he saw the note affixed to the mailbox at that time. Police discovered hairs stuck to glue in the envelope and subsequently retained the services of DNA experts Dr. Joy Halverson and Dr. Christopher Basten. They determined one of the hairs was a canine hair, compared it to the hair of appellant’s dog, and concluded the hair was 1,000 times more likely to have come from appellant’s dog than any other dog.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1710892.html

Leroy Thomas Pennsylvania Death Row

leroy thomas pennsylvania

Leroy Thomas was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for a robbery murder. According to court documents Leroy Thomas who is also known as Larry Rush would commit murder during a robbery. Leroy Thomas would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Leroy Thomas 2022 Information

Parole Number: 0989P
Age: 62
Date of Birth: 12/21/1959
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 6′ 00″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: DARK
Current Location: PHOENIX

Leroy Thomas More News

In the afternoon of May 8, 1987, Veranica James Hands had planned to meet her husband and friends at a shopping mall. She did not arrive as planned, so her husband went looking for her. He went to their apartment on the upper two floors of a three-story duplex on Federal Street in Philadelphia. He was surprised to find the door to the building and the door to their apartment unlocked. On the stair landing of the third-floor bedroom, he found his wife’s body, clad in a bathrobe and partially covered with a blanket and pillows. She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant and had been bound, gagged and stabbed to death. She had more than fifty stab wounds, some puncturing vital organs and fatally penetrating her unborn baby.

The third floor of the apartment had been partially ransacked. Pocket change, paper currency, an imitation Rolex watch, Mrs. Hands’ high school ring, gold chain bracelet, other watches, rings and jewelry, and a pair of fingerless sporting gloves were missing from the bedroom. There were no signs of forcible entry into the apartment. A bedroom window was open. Typically, the window was only opened when Mrs. Hands looked out to see who was ringing the doorbell.

Late on the day of the crime, Rush appeared at his acquaintance’s, Jerry McEachin, residence. Rush seemed nervous and scared. He showed McEachin a “MAC” card bearing Mrs. Hands’ name, a high school ring bearing her initials, other jewelry, coins and paper currency, and a pair of fingerless sporting gloves. 

Rush repeatedly looked out the window, telling McEachin he was looking to see if the police were after him. Rush said he just stabbed his cousin in her apartment on Federal Street, and he had stabbed a woman in the past. McEachin saw blood on Rush’s shoelaces. Rush explained that he washed the blood from the knife after the stabbing and put it back in its place in the victim’s apartment.

That day, police learned that Rush had been living on the first floor of the building where the victim lived. They went to Rush’s mother’s home, and when Rush approached and saw the police, he fled. The next day, around 2:00 a.m., McEachin saw Rush hiding under a truck in front of McEachin’s home. Rush asked whether any police were in the vicinity. Rush and McEachin then tried to use Mrs. Hands’ MAC card, and they visited several jewelers to sell some of her jewelry. Later, Rush threw his shoes in a dumpster and told McEachin he hoped he had not left any bloodstains or footprints at the crime scene.

Police recovered the jewelry Rush sold and identified it as belonging to Mrs. Hands. Rush’s fingerprints were found on containers where Mrs. Hands kept her pocket change in her bedroom. Rush’s thumbprint was found in blood on a doorjamb by Mrs. Hands’ body.

Harold James, a former police officer, was the victim’s father and Rush’s second cousin. At trial, he testified that after he learned of his daughter’s murder, he visited the crime scene. He then went to the police station to speak to a homicide detective. While waiting, he encountered Aaron Pringle, who lived in the first-floor apartment of Mrs. Hands’ building. Pringle told James that Rush had also been living on the first floor. James spoke with a detective and told him that Rush should be the prime suspect. James’ testimony contained no reference to Pringle saying anything incriminating about Rush. 

A police officer testified that when Rush was arrested, he was found hiding behind some clothes in a closet at the home of one of his friends. Rush did not know that the arrest was for a different crime. At trial, to counter the impression that Rush was hiding from the police because he was guilty of killing Mrs. Hands, defense counsel asked the officer what crime he was there to arrest Rush for, and the officer responded that it was for stabbing a lady in a bookstore on Germantown Avenue. Rush had instructed his counsel to elicit this testimony and insisted that he do so. Defense counsel brought this to the attention of the court out of concern for the effect on the jury of evidence of an extraneous crime. The court instructed counsel to proceed on Rush’s directive. Rush was convicted and sentenced to death.

https://casetext.com/case/rush-v-beard

Donte Thomas Pennsylvania Death Row

donte thomas pennsylvania

Donte Thomas was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of a witness. According to court documents Donte Thomas would shoot and kill a man who was set to testify against a friend of Donte who had been accused of murder. Donte Thomas would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Donte Thomas 2022 Information

Parole Number: 5210U
Age: 44
Date of Birth: 03/19/1977
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 6′ 00″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: MEDIUM
Current Location: PHOENIX

Donte Thomas More News

Here, our review of the testimony presented at trial shows that the evidence was sufficient to support a first-degree murder conviction. Dr. Edwin Lieberman, an assistant medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Gaymon/Allen, testified that the victim sustained four gunshot wounds, to the upper arm, abdomen, armpit, and left flank, respectively, the last of which caused damage to numerous internal organs including the heart. N.T., 9/12/07, at 5, 9, 13, 15, 18, 24, 30–31. Dr. Lieberman testified that the victim’s death was the result of the multiple gunshot wounds. Id. at 34.

Several eyewitnesses to the shooting were standing on a street corner with a group of men, including the victim, when the shooting started on the opposite corner. Two of these eyewitnesses, Maurice Gaymon and Stanley Battle, cousins of the victim, testified that they observed Appellant walk down the street and then, upon reaching the corner, pull out a gun and fire multiple shots. N.T., 9/10/07, at 139–42, 198, 205–06; N.T., 9/11/07, at 60–69. Both testified that they saw Appellant’s “whole face.” N.T., 9/10/07, at 142; N.T., 9/11/07, at 69. Mr. Battle testified that he was “just staring at [Appellant]” as Donte Thomas was shooting, and that Appellant was shooting at the victim, firing a total of approximately twelve to fifteen shots. N.T., 9/11/07, at 66, 69, 73, 77. After the shooting stopped, both of these witnesses saw the victim lying on the ground. N.T., 9/10/07, at 156–57; N.T., 9/11/07, at 78. Subsequently, both witnesses identified Appellant in a police photo array as the assailant, and they also identified Appellant in court. N.T., 9/10/07, at 139, 167–69; N.T., 9/11/07, at 63, 85–88.

Malik Adams, who at the time of the murder was a 15–year–old friend of the victim, was also present at the murder scene. He gave a statement to police, identified Donte Thomas in a police photo array as the assailant, and testified for the Commonwealth at Appellant’s preliminary hearing. N.T., 9/13/07, at 54, 56, 61–62, 74–75, 85. In Adams’s statement, he told police that Appellant was the only one at the scene with a gun, that Appellant was the only one shooting at the victim, and that Appellant was the individual whom he saw in the passenger seat of a black car that drove by the street corner shortly before the shooting. Id. at 190–91. During the June 13, 2006 preliminary hearing, Adams identified Appellant in court as the individual who had chased and shot the victim. Id. at 211–12.

However, when the Commonwealth called Adams as a witness at Appellant’s trial, he declined to identify Appellant in court as the individual who had killed the victim, and he repudiated his prior identification of Appellant, his statement to police, and his testimony at Appellant’s preliminary hearing, saying that he did not remember those events. Id. at 61–91. Although Adams identified the signature on his statement and on the photo array as his signature, he claimed not to know how it got there. Id. at 56–60, 70–80. Adams’s statement and preliminary hearing testimony were read into the record at trial. Id. at 183–92, 207–49.

Another witness, Samuel Taylor, had known Donte Thomas for many years and was in prison with him following the victim’s murder. N.T., 9/12/07, at 154–56. While they were in prison together, Taylor testified, Appellant told him that he had murdered someone for a friend of his named “Gus” because the victim was going to testify at Gus’s upcoming murder trial. Id. at 157–58. In addition, Appellant asked Taylor for a “favor,” to wit, to kill the cousin of a witness against Appellant. To this end, Appellant gave Taylor the phone number of his girlfriend. Id. at 158–59; see N.T., 9/14/07, at 59.

Consistent with Taylor’s testimony, other evidence showed that Donte Thomas had visited Glass/Gus in prison on two dates, October 5, 2005, and January 31, 2006, the latter date being only three days before the murder. N.T., 9/12/07, at 57–58. When Appellant was arrested on April 19, 2006, he acknowledged, in his statement to police, that he had visited Glass/Gus in prison several times, including on January 31, 2006, and that he had purchased a cell phone for Glass/Gus. Id. at 96–97, 107–08, 110. Appellant also acknowledged in his statement that Glass/Gus “was worried about his upcoming court case and the witness going [sic] to testify against him,” but Appellant denied that Glass/Gus had asked him to do anything about the witness and he denied knowledge of or involvement in the death of Gaymon/Allen. Id. at 110–12, 114.

Donte Thomas advanced an innocence defense, centered on the testimony of Tamika McMurren, his girlfriend and mother of three of his children, who claimed that Appellant was unable to run or to use his right hand because of debilitating gunshot wounds that he had suffered in August 2003 and October 2005. N.T., 9/14/07, at 15–18, 30–31, 34, 39–42. McMurren testified that Appellant was unable to fire a gun or to light a cigarette with his right hand, although there was nothing wrong with his left hand. Id. at 39–40. Appellant’s gunshot injuries had required surgery, and the surgeon who had operated on Appellant’s right arm on October 31, 2005, testified for the Commonwealth after Ms. McMurren’s testimony. N.T., 9/17/07, at 23 et seq. Specifically, the surgeon testified that Appellant had use of his right hand two days after the surgery, and he would not have expected that ability to change. Id. at 39. The record indicated only a single postsurgical visit approximately a week after Appellant’s surgery, so the surgeon was unable to provide any further information as to Appellant’s subsequent ability to use his right hand. Id. at 36–38.

This evidence is sufficient to establish that Appellant shot and killed Gaymon/Allen with malice and with specific intent to kill. The evidence showed that Appellant chased the victim, repeatedly fired a gun at the victim, and with at least one bullet, struck the victim in a vital part of his body. We now turn to Appellant’s specific claims.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1614719.html

Ronald Taylor Pennsylvania Death Row

ronald taylor pennsylvania death row

Ronald Taylor was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the shooting deaths of three people. According to court documents Ronald Taylor became enraged inside of his apartment over a broken door and would shoot and kill a maintenance person. Ronald Taylor would go to a nearby fast food restaurant where he would shoot and kill two customers. Following a standoff with police he was arrested. Ronald Taylor would be convicted and sentenced to death.

Ronald Taylor 2022 Information

Parole Number: 918DJ
Age: 61
Date of Birth: 09/30/1960
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 5′ 07″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: DARK
Current Location: PHOENIX

Ronald Taylor More News

A long-running dispute over a broken door escalated into a racially-motivated shooting rampage in Wilkinsburg on March 1, 2000.

Ronald Taylor, 39, a man suffering from schizophrenia, became enraged and told two maintenance workers they were “dirty white trash” and “racist white pig.” When the workers left, Taylor was still raging and set fire to his apartment before hunting them down in the building’s basement. Unable to find the worker he was looking for, he turned on another, John Kroll, 55, and shot him in the neck while sparing his black colleague. Taylor then left, disappearing down Penn Avenue.

9-1-1 calls were already coming in for the fire in the apartment, around 11:15 that morning, when Taylor went in pursuit of the next innocent person. Initial police radio traffic indicated that Taylor was still at the scene of the fire, confusing first responders who couldn’t confirm that.

Meanwhile, Joseph Healy, a 71-year-old retired priest from Duquesne University was down the street at Burger King. Known as “Storytelling Joe,” he read to children every day until Taylor, without a word, shot him in the back of the head while he sat in a booth.

Waiting at the next-door McDonald’s drive-through window, University of Pittsburgh physics student Emil Sanielevici, 20, was shot next. He died of his injuries later. The university would later establish a scholarship in his name.

Steven Bostard, 26, a manager at McDonald’s, was shot in the face, but survived. Another man, Richard Clinger, was shot as he sat in his van in the parking lot with his daughter. Clinger also survived, but with lifelong brain injuries and paralysis on his right side.

Still seething and pursued by the massive police response to 911 calls now coming in from the fast food restaurants, Taylor briefly seeks refuge in an apartment, assuring the black resident that he is only targeting white people. As he leaves, he is spotted by police, who don’t realize he’s the gunman until he turns and shoots at them before entering a medical office.

Barricading himself in the Penn West Building, Taylor took five more white people hostage in the office of a senior hospice center. Witnesses would later tell police that Taylor told the hostages he had one more bullet left, but didn’t know which hostage to use it on.

Upstairs from the office was a day care center full of children, which were evacuated along with other workers, as the scene unfolded in front of TV cameras and police cordoned off a nearly two-block area. Officers emptied the building around Taylor of approximately 125 people, which included the safe evacuation of 37 children from the day care.

Taylor raged at police during a tense two-hour standoff, complaining about his mistreatment at the hands of racists. He asked for cigarettes and water, which negotiators provided as they talked to him. They later reported that Taylor considered taking his own life but was concerned about how his mother would handle it, before he was finally convinced to surrender.

Just before 2 p.m., police radios crackled with word that Taylor had been taken into custody without further violence.

During later searches of Taylor’s burned out apartment, police found a suicide note and hateful misspelled rants about the effects of him mental illness and the poor care he received from the mental health system

Among the writings was a note titled “The Satan List” that had a list of targets including businesses and people. Taylor’s landlord believes he left the building in search of her nearby offices, but became distracted when he started shooting at the fast food restaurants.

The .22 revolver Taylor used was purchased from a Wilkinsburg gun shop in 1982 and he stole from his mother.

Taylor had no previous criminal record, no known income, and had been living on Social Security for at least the prior three years while he underwent psychiatric treatment. Neighbors described him as quiet, said he had no family around and few visitors.

As Taylor was walked to jail, he made jokes at reporters and winked at the television cameras that surrounded him.

During subsequent court appearances, Taylor remained emotionless and appeared to count on his fingers throughout the trial.

On Nov. 9, 2001, Taylor was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death two days later. He remains imprisoned at SCI Greene near Waynesburg.

https://www.wpxi.com/archive/this-day-march-1-2000-racially-motivated-shooting-spree-leaves-3-dead-wilkinsburg/AC2KVVXIAFC5RMCEXJDLDUT6NA/

Patrick Stollar Pennsylvania Death Row

Patrick Stollar pennsylvania

Patrick Stollar was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the robbery and murder of an elderly woman. According to court documents Patrick Stollar broke into the home of the elderly woman who he proceeded to beat to death before robbing the home. Patrick Stollar would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Patrick Stollar 2022 Information

Parole Number: 385HG
Age: 43
Date of Birth: 05/16/1978
Race/Ethnicity: WHITE
Height: 5′ 10″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX

Patrick Stollar More News

A Washington County man who was convicted of killing an elderly Upper St. Clair woman in 2003 and given the death penalty will get a new sentencing hearing.

Patrick Stollar, 42, appeared on a video screen from prison during a brief hearing on Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman.

His attorney, Thomas N. Farrell, argued that Cashman failed to give the jury in Stollar’s 2008 trial the proper instruction regarding his lack of any previous criminal convictions before it began deliberating his sentence. He was sentenced to die by lethal injection. Acknowledging the error, the prosecution conceded to the new penalty hearing.

On Thursday, the district attorney’s office said during the proceeding that they were not prepared to say whether they would pursue a new death-penalty phase sentencing hearing for Stollar before a jury, or whether they would allow the sentence to convert to life without parole, the mandatory penalty in a first-degree murder case.

No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Stollar was convicted for killing Jean Heck, 78, who was found dead in her home by neighbors on June 4, 2003.

Police said she had been beaten, strangled, stomped on and stabbed.

Officers found the address and phone number for Stollar’s mother on a piece of paper on Heck’s kitchen counter, and then went to his place of employment.

They ultimately found him at an apartment where he’d been staying with a co-worker.

He admitted then, officers said, “I killed that woman. I murdered that woman.”

Stollar later provided a full statement to police, telling them he went to Heck’s home to rob and kill her. He also led them to the clothes he had worn that day and the knife he used, which he had buried.

Stollar, who had at one point been found not competent to stand trial, represented himself during the guilt phase. He was found guilty on all counts on Feb. 20, 2008. Two days later, the jury imposed the death penalty, finding that the aggravating factor that the homicide was committed during the course of a robbery outweighed mitigating evidence including Stollar’s life history and character.

In his most recent appeal, Farrell argued that Stollar’s sentencing phase counsel, James DePasquale, failed to request a jury instruction in which the panel would be told that it must find as a mitigating factor that Stollar had no significant history of prior criminal convictions.

During their closing arguments at trial, both the prosecution and defense raised that issue to the jury.

“Lack of criminal record? Good for you, Mr. Stollar,” said then Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Mark V. Tranquilli. “Good for you that for 25 years you lived by the rules that we all agree to live by … How is that mitigation? That is what is expected of us as citizens of the United States.”

But DePasquale said, in his closing, that he found Tranquilli’s words disconcerting.

“He wants to know how does that become a mitigating factor… Well, I’ll tell him. It is a mitigating factor because in the law, the death penalty law of the state of Pennsylvania, it is clearly and unequivocally a mitigating factor.”

Still, the jury instruction was not given.

“Counsel had no reasonable basis for failing to request that Judge Cashman instruct the jury that they must find the mitigating factor that petitioner had no significant history of prior criminal convictions,” Farrell wrote.

He argued that had that factor been weighed by the jury — if Cashman had provided the instruction — the outcome of the sentence would have been different.

In its response, the prosecution admitted that the instruction should have been provided.

“Therefore, the commonwealth is bound to agree that petitioner is entitled to a new penalty proceeding/hearing,” wrote Assistant District Attorney Rusheen R. Pettit.

https://triblive.com/local/man-sentenced-to-death-in-killing-of-upper-st-clair-woman-granted-new-hearing/