Judge orders new sentencing hearing in 1998 slayings
YORK, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge has thrown out the death sentence imposed on one of two brothers convicted in a 1998 double murder and ordered a new sentencing hearing.
The York County judge denied a new trial to 54-year-old Milton Montalvo but found flaws in the penalty phase, citing ineffective counsel and remarks by the prosecutor and judge.
Montalvo was convicted of first-degree murder in the April 1998 slayings of his former girlfriend, 44-year-old Miriam Asencio, and 37-year-old Manual Ramirez Santana.
Montalvo’s brother, Noel, was convicted in a separate trial and also sentenced to death.