Appeal in Loyalhanna triple murder case identifies potential new suspects
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New attorneys for a former Loyalhanna business owner on death row for the murder of his sister, mother and elderly aunt in 2009 claim they have identified two other men as the potential killers. The evidence, they say, bolsters arguments that a new trial is warranted.
Kevin Murphy, 64, of Conemaugh was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury in 2013 for the execution-style slayings of his mother, Doris Murphy, 69; sister, Kris Murphy, 43; and aunt, Edith Tietge, 81. They were each found with gunshot wounds to the backs of their heads inside their family-owned business, Ferguson Glass.
Prosecutors claimed Murphy killed his family members over disagreements with them about his desire to move his married girlfriend into the family home.
In a 1,300-page appeal filed last week, the defense claims Murphy should receive a new trial based on multiple issues. The appeal includes legal arguments and affidavits from attorneys, witnesses, forensic experts and about 10 of the jurors who heard his case and sentenced him to death by lethal injection.
“Mr. Murphy’s death sentence was the result of an insufficient capital jury selection process, the trial court’s constitutionally deficient answer to a jury question concerning mitigation and multiple instances of trial counsel’s ineffective assistance, including counsel’s total failure to have Mr. Murphy evaluated by any kind of mental health professional for purposes of his sentencing,” wrote new defense lawyers Brian Aston and Ken Noga.
The appeal claims Murphy’s former lawyers never investigated reports that two other men had motive and opportunity to commit the murders. One was a disgraced former police officer from Lancaster County who was later convicted of a 2014 murder in Indiana County and at the time of the Loyalhanna shooting worked as a first responder. Witnesses said he was at Ferguson Glass when other medics and police arrived at the scene, according to the court filing.
Witnesses said the same man, who has a history of thefts, was spotted potentially casing the business a week before the fatal shootings.
Another potential suspect told the defense she had a romantic relationship with Murphy prior to the killings. According to the appeal, she said her then live-in boyfriend learned of the affair, had ties to organized crime and suspected he was involved in the shootings.
As part of the appeal, the defense also claims the trial lawyers failed to adequately argue and present evidence to support Murphy’s claims of innocence based his alibi that he was feeding cows at the time of the shooting.
“It would have been nearly impossible for Mr. Murphy to murder three of his family members and complete the cattle feeding route in this time frame, and he would not have seen or heard the shooting while he was absorbed in the cattle feeding routine on the farm,” according to the appeal.
Murphy’s former lawyers also failed to challenge ballistic evidence or properly question witnesses, including a jailhouse snitch who testified about the alleged involvement of a former girlfriend in the murder plot.
Susan McGuire should have been called to testify at trial, the defense now claims. McGuire, who the defense said took over the business after the murders and Murphy’s arrest, denied any involvement in the killings. According to the defense’s court filing, she passed a lie detector test before the trial.
Meanwhile, jurors told investigators they improperly discussed the case prior to the start of deliberations and had formed opinions on Murphy’s guilt during the case, according to the court filing.
Aston and Noga, the new defense lawyers, said Murphy was poorly represented during the penalty phase of the trial, including failures to present evidence of his autism, which was diagnosed years after the conviction.
Prosecutors declined to comment on the allegations raised in the appeal.
“The District Attorney’s office is reviewing the appeal. However, we continue to support the jury’s verdict in this case,” said Melanie Jones, spokeswoman for District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli.
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio on Monday ordered a hearing April 14 to hear evidence pertaining to another defense argument raised in the appeal. Defense attorneys claim a technical error made by the judge who presided at Murphy’s trial is enough to overturn the conviction.
The defense argued former Judge Al Bell erred by not requiring Murphy to be present when jurors were bused to Loyalhanna on the first day of the trial to view the crime scene. State law requires, and the state’s Supreme Court affirmed, defendants in capital murder cases be present at all aspects of a trial, including site visits, the defense claims.