Court upholds death penalty in Pennsylvania triple killing
GREENSBURG (AP) – An appeals court has upheld the death penalty and conviction of a western Pennsylvania in the slayings of his mother, sister and elderly aunt.
Attorneys for 55-year-old Kevin Murphy had argued there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him and challenged the court’s decision to allow statements he made to police as evidence.
The Westmoreland County man was convicted and sentenced in May 2013.
District Attorney John Peck argued for the death penalty based on the multiple homicides and the nature of the crimes, in which the women were shot point-blank in the back of the head by someone they had loved, trusted and known for decades. The women allegedly objected to Murphy’s affair with a married woman.
The killings occurred April 23, 2009 at an automotive glass shop Murphy owned in Conemaugh Township.