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Wayne Smith Pennsylvania Death Row

Wayne Smith was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of a woman. According to court documents Wayne Smith was upset that the victim had denied his advances and proceeded to strangle her to death. Wayne Smith who was previously convicted of manslaughter would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Wayne Smith 2022 Information

Parole Number: 5260P
Age: 66
Date of Birth: 11/28/1955
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 6′ 04″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: MEDIUM
Current Location: PHOENIX

Wayne Smith More News

A second Delaware County jury has decided on a death sentence for a Chester man who was convicted nearly two decades ago in the murder of 26-year-old Eileen Jones.

Jurors deliberated for about six hours before returning the repeat-decision for Wayne Smith. The decision capped a life-or-death battle among expert witnesses, which played out this week in a penalty phase trial resulting from Smith’s death-sentence appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Smith, now 56, reportedly showed no reaction when the decision was announced, or when Judge James Bradley remanded him to death row at SCI Rockview — where his death by lethal injection would be imposed. No execution date has been set. The last person to be executed in Pennsylvania was Gary M. Heidnik, on July 6, 1999, under former Gov. Tom Ridge.

Smith is currently serving time in a Greene County prison for the Nov. 18, 1994, strangulation of Jones. The Eddystone mother of two was three months pregnant at the time of death.

Assistant District Attorney Erica Parham, spokeswoman for the D.A.’s office, said she anticipates further legal proceedings.

“However, we are very satisfied with the decision of the jury,” she said. “The jury appropriately determined that the defendant’s prior conviction for voluntary manslaughter of a bar patron with a machete, a commonwealth aggravating factor, outweighed any mitigating factor presented by the defense.”

Under Pennsylvania law, death by lethal injections can only be sought in cases in which aggravating circumstances are present.

Smith was one of two men charged in 1980 in the fatal stabbing of a Chester resident in a bar. He pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge and served a two- to four-year jail term.

The previous conviction was one of two aggravating circumstances cited by the prosecution in 1995. The second was that Jones’ killing occurred during the commission of a second felony of attempted rape.

Parham noted that Ed Martin, Jones’ father, was in the courtroom throughout the week and left about an hour before the jury returned with a decision, shortly before 7:30 p.m.

“He bravely endured the proceedings this week,” Parham said “He has felt the loss of his daughter since 1994. His presence showed his commitment to justice, and the Office of the District Attorney is just as committed.”

Smith was convicted of first-degree murder in May 1995 and given a death sentence. At that time, after the verdict he turned and apologized to the victim’s family for the strangulation.

“I’ll never forgive myself,” said Smith. “I just hope that in time the family and her kids will forgive me,” he added, while beginning to cry.

Jones’ partially clothed body was fished from the waters of Ridley Creek near Ninth Street — between the Chester and Eddystone border — on Nov. 22, 1994.?

During the initial trial, the prosecution claimed Smith killed Jones after she rejected his sexual advances. Defense counsel Raymond Williams argued Smith killed the woman while in a cocaine-induced frenzy.

According to testimony given at trial this week, Smith had made an arrangement with Jones that she would give him sex in exchange for cocaine. After several hours spent with the victim, the sexual encounter occurred in a park near the Ninth Street Bridge, where the victim was later found.

Smith told police that at some point the two began wrestling on the ground, according to a statement read in court. He then became afraid that Jones, who is white, would say Smith had raped her. Smith said he did not believe a jury would believe him because he is black.

He strangled the woman and dragged her to the creek where her body was later discovered. Smith would have had to strangle Jones for two-and-a-half to three minutes to choke the life out of her, according to former Delaware County Medical Examiner Dr. Dimitri Contostavlos.

Smith initially lied to police about the murder, but later confessed, according to a taped statement played for the court.

He appealed the death penalty sentence to the state Supreme Court. The court affirmed the murder conviction in 2010, but ordered a new hearing on the death penalty. Because the murder conviction was upheld, only two options remained open to the new jury: Life imprisonment or death.

The appeals court determined that defense counsel’s “inadequate investigation” and “narrow focus on cocaine-induced psychosis as the key to the guilt phase, coupled with his disregard for other forms of mental health mitigating evidence, which would have been useful at the penalty phase, cannot be said to have been a reasonable strategy.”

Smith’s new attorney, William Wismer, offered testimony this week from Dr. George Woody, an expert in psychiatry and substance abuse, who found Smith’s fear that no one would believe him could have stemmed from childhood factors like abuse and neglect, exacerbated by cocaine use.

“I think that he developed a cocaine-induced paranoia and that cocaine magnified the problems he had with anger and anxiety and impulse control, and putting all that together it resulted in the behavior that caused (Jones’) death,” he said.

Neuropsychologist Carol Armstrong also told Wismer that Smith was severely impaired in his ability to reason and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from his abusive childhood.

Armstrong said the chronic stresses Smith underwent in childhood likely resulted in brain damage and that his escape mechanism – long and intensive crack cocaine and alcohol abuse – could have induced psychosis.

But clinical and forensic psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Cooke told Assistant District Attorney Mary Mann that Armstrong had evaluated Smith inaccurately. There was no determination in her report how she came to diagnose him with PTSD, said Cooke, and none of the tests in which he was found to be impaired have a baseline “norm” for age, education, race and sex that psychiatrists use for comparison.

On seven tests with norms that Armstrong did administer, Cooke said Wayne Smith did not fall into the impaired range, and on three of those he even scored above normal.

Chester man gets death sentence for ’94 murder

John Small Pennsylvania Death Row

John Small was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents John Small and James Frey would kidnap the victim who was brought to a remote location where she was sexually assaulted and beaten to death. Five weeks after the murder the victims body was found. John Small would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

John Small 2022 Information

Parole Number: 9630P
Age: 62
Date of Birth: 11/14/1959
Race/Ethnicity: WHITE
Height: 6′ 01″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX

John Small More News

[O]n the evening of August 5, 1981, a group of people, including the victim, attended a party in the Borough of Hanover. Even though many of the attendees at the party were underage, large quantities of alcohol and marijuana were consumed. At some point during the evening, a fight erupted and the police were called to the scene. Prior to the arrival of the responding police officers, a group of the partygoers left in two separate vehicles and drove to a local tavern. After consuming more alcohol at the tavern, the group drove to a wooded area outside of Hanover, known as “the Pines.” Several members of the group departed. At one point, the victim left the remaining members of the group and went into the woods to relieve herself. She was followed by [John Small] and co-defendant James Frey. Sometime thereafter, witnesses testified that they heard the victim scream. An eyewitness, Larry Tucker, later testified at trial that he had followed [Small] into the woods and then watched [John Small] and the co-defendant grab the victim, throw her to the ground and say to her “you give it to everybody else.” [John Small] was seen shortly thereafter coming out of the woods with blood on his hands. Co-defendant Frey followed several minutes later and the remaining members of the group then left the Pines leaving the victim in the woods. The victim was never seen alive again and her body was found seven weeks later, in a spread eagle position, naked from the waist down with her shirt rolled around her neck, exposing her upper torso. Forensic evidence indicated that the cause of death was a head trauma.

No arrest was made for a number of years. Finally, police investigators learned that [John Small] had been making incriminating statements implicating himself in the murder. Linda Rhinehart testified that she overheard [John Small] at an arcade in Hanover state to some friends that: “I followed her into the woods ‘cause I was going to get some of that․ She won’t be a tease anymore. It’s amazing what a tire iron can do to hush someone making that much noise.” Cerenna Hughes testified that [Small] told her that after the night at the Pines, Cheryl “run away” and “she gave in, she gave up.” Harry H. Carper III testified that sometime during 1981, he visited [Small] at his home and [Small] stated “he might have killed” Cheryl Smith and that “he hit her over the top of her head.” Lastly, Janice Small, [Small’s] wife at the time of the murder, testified that one night in 1981 when Carper was visiting at their residence, she overheard [Small] say to Carper “I killed a girl․ [We] hit her over the head, dumped her ass in the woods and left her there.” She also testified that on one occasion when she was reading a newspaper article about the murder, [Small] walked by and said, “that’s the girl we killed.”

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1107623.html

Michael Singley Pennsylvania Death Row

Michael Singley was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for a double murder. According to court documents Michael Singley would sexually assault and murder his cousins wife. When a neighbor confronted him Michael Singley would murder him as well. Michael Singley would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Michael Singley 2022 Information

Parole Number: 302DL
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 04/01/1976
Race/Ethnicity: WHITE
Height: 6′ 02″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX

Michael Singley More News

The record reveals that on November 3, 1998, Appellant Michael B. Singley purchased three rolls of duct tape, ammunition for a .44 Magnum handgun, a folding lock-blade hunting knife and camouflage hunting gloves at retail stores in or around Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He then drove to the neighborhood where his cousin, Travis Rohrer, lived with his wife, Christine Rohrer. Michael Singley loitered in the neighborhood, waiting for Christine’s arrival home from work. At approximately 5:45 p.m. that evening, Appellant saw Christine Rohrer’s Jeep in the driveway of the duplex where she and her husband resided. Michael Singley parked his vehicle a block away and proceeded on foot to the Rohrer residence carrying two rolls of duct tape, the gloves, hunting knife, and the ammunition for the handgun he knew that his cousin Travis Rohrer owned. Michael Singley gained entry into the Rohrer residence by feigning car trouble to Christine and asked to use the telephone to obtain assistance. Appellant indicated to Christine that the car trouble may have been the result of a malfunctioning car battery. Mrs. Rohrer then indicated that she could assist Appellant but first needed to change clothes. Once Mrs. Rohrer was upstairs, Appellant went to her room and began binding Christine Rohrer’s arms and mouth with the duct tape. Appellant went downstairs to retrieve something, and on his return upstairs, Appellant broke through the door which Christine Rohrer managed to lock in his absence. Appellant wrestled with Christine Rohrer for a time and then bound her arms to the bed frame, covered her eyes and mouth with the duct tape, leaving her nostrils exposed and bound her legs with the tape. He unbound her legs and raped Christine Rohrer. Appellant left the bedroom, smoked a cigarette in another room and then re-entered the bedroom where he repeatedly stabbed Christine Rohrer in the chest, neck and torso. She died as a result of the injuries inflicted.

Travis Rohrer returned home at about 8 p.m. that evening and found Michael Singley on the second floor brandishing both the handgun and the knife. Appellant forced Travis Rohrer into the bedroom, where Christine Rohrer’s body was covered with the bedclothes. Michael Singley pistol-whipped Travis Rohrer before ordering him to the ground. Appellant then stabbed Travis Rohrer several times in the back. A scuffle ensued, during which both Appellant and Travis Rohrer struggled for control of the handgun. Appellant wrested the gun free and shot Travis Rohrer once in the arm and once in the ribcage before going downstairs. Travis Rohrer survived the assault.

With the keys to Christine Rohrer’s Jeep in hand, Appellant exited the Rohrer residence only to come upon Deborah Hock and her fiancée, James Gilliam, who lived in the other half of the duplex where Christine and Travis Rohrer lived. Appellant raised the handgun and fatally shot Gilliam in the chest. Appellant turned the weapon on the prone Deborah Hock and fired at her. The shot missed Hock, but the muzzle blast left her with powder burns on her hand and wrist. Appellant left the scene in Christine Rohrer’s Jeep and drove through the countryside for a few hours before returning to Chambersburg. Appellant then called his girlfriend from a pay phone. Afterwards, he surreptitiously entered his parents’ home, the place where he had been residing. Chambersburg police eventually tracked Appellant to his parent’s house and, on November 4, 1998, took Appellant into custody.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1079815.html

Rasheen Simpson Pennsylvania Death Row

Rasheen Simpson was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the kidnapping and murder of a man. According to court documents Rasheen Simpson and three accomplices would kidnap the victim and would demand a ransom payment from the victims family. When the family did not respond fast enough the victim was shot multiple times and killed.. Rasheen Simpson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Rasheen Simpson 2022 Information

Parole Number: 444BI
Age: 47
Date of Birth: 06/06/1974
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 5′ 08″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX

Rasheen Simpson More News

On December 8, 1993, at about 9:00 p.m., Rasheen Simpson along with three co-conspirators, abducted Andrew Haynes (the victim) from somewhere in the vicinity of 18 th and Tioga Streets in North Philadelphia. The kidnappers threw the victim into a waiting van and took him to the apartment of Rasheema Washington (Washington), who was a close friend of Malik Bowers (Bowers), one of Appellant’s co-conspirators.

Washington, who expected nothing other than that Bowers would soon present himself at her apartment, was stunned at the group’s unannounced arrival. She watched the kidnappers throw the victim onto the floor of her apartment, beat him and demand money. In addition, she noticed that the group had tied the victim’s hands behind his back, bound his legs, gagged him and pulled a hat over his face to prevent him from seeing them or his surroundings. Washington further observed Rasheen Simpson and another member of the group, Allistar Durrante (Durrante), enter her bedroom and use the telephone there. After about a half-hour, and at Washington’s insistence, the kidnappers left Washington’s residence, bringing with them the still bound and gagged victim.

Not long after the victim’s disappearance, Rasheen Simpson placed a telephone call to the victim’s apartment, which the victim’s friend, Aloysius Hall (Hall), received. The caller identified himself as the man who had robbed Hall several weeks prior to that evening. Additionally, the caller responded affirmatively when Hall asked him if he was “Rasheed.” The caller, whom Hall now recognized as Appellant, informed Hall that he and his co-conspirators had the victim and that they intended to kill him if they were not paid $20,000.00 within fifteen minutes.

Following this initial conversation, Hall telephoned the house of the victim’s mother and described the details of the ransom call to the victim’s brother, Selvan Haynes (Haynes). Alarmed, Haynes immediately went to his brother’s apartment. Subsequent to arriving at the victim’s apartment, Haynes received a second telephone call placed by the kidnappers about fifteen minutes after the initial call. Again, the group declared that they had the victim and that they intended to kill him if they did not receive $20,000.00 in ransom. Haynes attempted to reason with the caller, pleading that obtaining such a large sum of money in such a short time would be impossible for him. The caller responded by exclaiming that the group was not joking, after which he abruptly hung up the telephone.

Before returning to his mother’s house, Haynes arranged to have the incoming telephone calls to the victim’s apartment forwarded to his mother’s house. Shortly after that, Haynes received a forwarded call at his mother’s residence, the third placed by the group. The caller repeated the group’s demands. In response, Haynes offered the kidnappers $3,000.00 in cash and his two vehicles; the kidnappers rejected this offer. The kidnappers called again, and in this instance, they allowed Haynes to speak with the victim. The victim begged his brother to do something to save his life. The group called one final time and repeated their demands; and following that, neither Haynes nor Hall had any further contact with the group.

At about midnight this same evening, officers with the Philadelphia Police Department responded to a report of a dead body found in a vacant lot at 18 th and Somerset Streets, a location in close proximity to both Washington’s residence and the site of the kidnapping. At that location, they discovered the victim’s dead body. His hands were tied behind his back and a hat partially covered his face. The victim had suffered four bullet wounds to the back of his head.

On December 16, 1993, a week after police discovered the victim, Rasheen Simpson, Bowers and Washington, along with two others, traveled to a Montgomery County movie theater. While the group was in the movie theater, a police officer patrolling the parking lot noticed that the vehicle in which the group had been riding did not have a license plate. In searching the car’s dashboard for a vehicle identification number, the officer noticed a gun jutting out from under the front seat of the car. The officer called for backup and three additional officers joined him in his surveillance of the vehicle. When Rasheen Simpson, Bowers, Washington and the others returned and entered the automobile, the officers ordered the group from the car. Ultimately, the Montgomery County authorities arrested Bowers and seized the gun.³ Appellant and the others were permitted to leave.

In an interview with Philadelphia police in June of 1996, Washington divulged the details surrounding the kidnapper’s arrival at her apartment and the group’s actions during this time period. Based in large part on Washington’s interview, coupled with the earlier statements given to police by Haynes and Hall after the discovery of the victim’s body, the police arrested Appellant in July of 1996 for his participation in the crime. The authorities charged Appellant with, inter alia, murder of the first degree, kidnapping,⁴ robbery,⁵ conspiracy ⁶ and possessing an instrument of crime.⁷

On December 17, 1997, a jury found Appellant guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy and possessing an instrument of crime.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1160329.html

Christopher Roney Pennsylvania Death Row

Christopher Roney was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Roney would shoot and kill a police officer during a bank robbery. The police officer, Philadelphia Police Officer Lauretha Vaird was the first female officer to be murdered on duty in Pennsylvania history. Christopher Roney would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Christopher Roney 2022 Information

Parole Number: 916DJ
Age: 52
Date of Birth: 12/15/1969
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 6′ 04″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: DARK
Current Location: PHOENIX

Christopher Roney More News

On this day in 1996, Hilltop Hustler and Steady B affiliate Cool C shot and killed Philadelphia Police Officer Lauretha Ward in a brazen bank robbery attempt that landed him and Steady B behind bars with life sentences. Coll C, whose real name is Christopher Roney, was originally sentenced to the death penalty but was granted a stay of execution.

Along with Steady B and Philly rapper Mark Canty, the “Glamorous Life’ rapper attempted to rob the PNC Bank in Feltonville, PA but instead exchanged gunfire with police after a silent alarm was tripped. As the trio exited the bank, Roney exchanged fire with another police officer before he and Canty dropped their weapons at the scene and fled in a stolen minivan driven by Steady B.

Christopher Roney was arrested on October 30, 1996 and charged with first degree murder. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection, however, Roney has been granted two stays of execution since his death warrant was signed in January 2006.