Brother-in-law acquitted of killing, burning van
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MERCER (AP) – A Western Pennsylvania man has been acquitted of fatally shooting his brother in law, whose body was later found in a burning van.
Defense attorney Alexander Lindsay argued state police and Mercer County prosecutors wrongly focused on 46-year-old Ralph Young after relatives claimed he was involved in a property dispute with the dead man, 58-year-old David Dignall.
Prosecutors contend Young was unhappy because Dignall and his wife – Young’s sister – bought property from the Young siblings’ mother and were charging Ralph Young to live there.
Assistant District Attorney Daniel Davis argued Young acknowledged being in the area at the time and had access to a shotgun which cannot be found.
Dignall was found dead Dec. 20, 2012 in French Creek Township, about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh.