Jul 11, 2017 3 min read

The trial of a Burgettstown businessman accused of fatally shooting an Imperial man last year is set to begin Tuesday before a Washington County jury.

James A. Bongiorni, 69, of Highland Avenue, is charged in the death of his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, 38-year-old Brian J. Wilbert, during a dispute on the night of April 27, 2016.

Bongiorni, a former officer in the now-defunct Burgettstown Police Department and proprietor of multiple small businesses in the area, allegedly fired a single round from a .38-caliber handgun during an altercation about 9 p.m. outside his daughter Darlo Bongiorni’s home at 5 Hillcrest Ave.

The defense maintains Bongiorni, who faces a single charge of criminal homicide, acted in self-defense. Jury selection began early Monday afternoon from a pool of 60 potential jurors and continued into the evening.

Jury selection was expected to wrap up Monday night, but had not as of press time. If jury selection concluded Monday night, the trial was expected to begin this morning.

After the shooting, Wilbert was found unconscious in the driver’s seat of the vehicle he and another man had arrived with a bullet wound in his abdomen.

A large knife was found inside the vehicle.

It was later determined Wilbert’s blood-alcohol content was 0.245 percent – more than three times the legal limit to drive a car – at or around the time of his death, according to court records.

First responders flew him by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He underwent emergency surgery, but was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.

A neighbor across the street captured a video on her cellphone purportedly showing the argument and shooting. McDonald police charged Bongiorni in July 2016.

Robert Del Greco Jr., one of Bongiorni’s attorneys, declined comment.

“I’m not going to comment because we’re picking the jury,” he said.

Court records suggest Bongiorni’s lawyers hope to use Wilbert’s lengthy criminal history – which includes a 2007 guilty plea to violating a protection-from-abuse order Darlo Bongiorni had sought – as part of its self-defense case.

First Assistant District Attorney Dennis Paluso declined comment on the prosecution’s case beyond saying, “We’re confident in our preparation for the trial.” In pretrial filings, prosecutors appear to aim at persuading jurors Bongiorni was the aggressor, including by presenting testimony concerning a previous occasion when Bongiorni allegedly pushed Wilbert and threatened the younger man.

Judge Michael J. Lucas will preside over the trial.