Apr 17, 2017 4 min read

More than four years after his arrest and incarceration, a local man may stand trial in August for homicide and attempted homicide in a case in which prosecutors have stated they intend to seek the death penalty.

Brandon Lee Wolowski, 22, of Washington, also is charged with aggravated assault and robbery in connection with shootings at a home in the 900 block of Fayette Street Jan. 8, 2013.

Matthew Mathias, 37, died of a gunshot wound to the chest that perforated his left lung. Mathias’ girlfriend, Michelle Powell, 38, was shot in the cheek, chin, chest and arm but survived after undergoing surgery.

Before she was flown by helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital, Powell gave a statement to police that pointed to Wolowski as the perpetrator, and he was taken into custody shortly thereafter. Guns were the objective of the robbery, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

Wolowski was not in Washington County Courthouse Monday for a pretrial conference, but there were some developments in the case, such as zeroing in on the August court calendar for a possible trial.

“It won’t be in our normal criminal trial weeks,” said Assistant District Attorney Leslie Ridge. An August jury trial in Washington County Courthouse would be a rarity, but it might be the only time open for a death-penalty case. Potential jurors who express opposition to the death penalty on moral grounds are automatically excluded from serving, so the court administrator’s office sends out a larger-than-usual number of summonses in these types of cases to obtain the required number of jurors and alternates to sit in judgment.

Then-First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Lucas, now a Washington County judge, filed a notice of aggravating circumstances required for death-penalty cases in February 2013. Lucas noted the killing of Mathias took place during a felony robbery and “knowingly created a grave risk of death” to Powell.

The defense seeks to counter the prosecution’s case with mitigating circumstances. Wolowski’s court-appointed attorney, Noah Geary, is in the process of compiling reasons that could keep Wolowski from receiving a death sentence. Portraying Wolowski as a victim of fetal alcohol syndrome is a possibility.

“That would be mitigating,” Geary said. “I need to explore that. … His upbringing was truly horrific.”

Wolowski has a long history of spending time in foster and group homes.

Among those awaiting word on the case at the courthouse was Wolowski’s sister, Susan May McMasters, 27, of Washington. She said, “Brandon is really a good kid. He had such a bad start in life. I’m four years older than him. I did what I could. What he’s accused of is so hard for me to believe.”

McMasters can’t visit her brother in jail because of her own criminal record, but she said they communicate through frequent phone calls. Helen Kosek, who described her relationship with Wolowski as grandmotherly, visits him in jail and has, on his behalf, mailed documents dealing with a federal case he filed in U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh, against jail guards.

Cynthia Reed Eddy, U.S. magistrate judge, wrote of the federal case last November, “It is not yet clear to the Court whether (the case) has any merit, either in factor or in law,” and she declined to appoint counsel for Wolowski in that legal arena.

Of the homicide charge to be handled in state court, Ridge, who would be leading the prosecution of a death-penalty case for the first time, said, “Unfortunately, in these kinds of cases, you have to take your time because there are some pretty serious things involved. There are a lot of things both sides have to do to prepare.”

Geary said the appeals process can be a long one, so he prefers “to get everything the first time through. Other lawyers, years from now, could be poring over everything,” pointing to defenses that should have been explored.

The attorneys expect to participate in another pretrial conference during the coming months.

Over the years, Wolowski, while being held in the county jail without bond, requested he receive the services of a psychologist, which the court, according to an online docket referencing Dr. Michael Crabtree, allowed with a $3,000 cap.

Wolowski first had a public defender as his legal representation. But last fall, Wolowski, through Geary, who has the qualifications required for a death-penalty case, asked Judge John DiSalle to suppress evidence. DiSalle heard testimony but denied Wolowski’s request.

Wolowski also granted permission to the juvenile probation office to release his records and asked the county office of Children and Youth Services to provide an opportunity to review his files in dependency cases.

In 2015, DiSalle also ordered Wolowski be transported to Torrance State Hospital in Westmoreland County for as long as 90 days for a mental-health evaluation, testing and treatment.