Man convicted, gets life in 1987 tavern waitress slaying
UNIONTOWN (AP) – A Western Pennsylvania man has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison in a retrial in the slaying of a waitress during a tavern robbery nearly three decades ago.
The (Uniontown) Herald-Standard reports that a Fayette County jury took less than an hour to convict 55-year-old Mark Breakiron of first-degree murder in the March 1987 stabbing death of 24-year-old Saundra Martin.
Prosecutors alleged that Breakiron killed the Smithfield woman before stealing her purse and bags of money from Shenanigan’s Lounge in German Township.
Defense attorney Samuel Davis sought a third-degree murder conviction, arguing that prosecutors hadn’t provided evidence that Breakiron went to the tavern intending to kill and rob.
A federal judge in 2011 overturned an earlier conviction and death sentence, citing tainted testimony from another inmate.