Graham case still in court as killings approach 7 years
The grisly discovery of a woman’s body in the backseat of a car left along Butsko Road in Fallowfield Township seven years ago this week became even more grim when state police towed the vehicle to the barracks on Murtland Avenue for fingerprinting and other documentation.
Inside the vehicle’s passenger compartment was Lynna Ronnell Flippen, 25, of Ellsworth. But inside the trunk was the body of Earnest Yarbough Jr., 31, a jitney driver from Pittsburgh. State police linked the deaths to Flippen’s estranged boyfriend, Terrance Graham, now 40, of Bentleyville.
On May 13, 2010, Flippen frantically called Washington County 911 about 4:50 a.m., saying she was being attacked.
When police arrived, they found blood in several parts of her home, and a trail of blood that led to a sidewalk and an area across the street where residents and guests would park their cars. Police investigated the case as that of a missing person until a man taking his daily walk in Fallowfield came upon the car.
A Washington County jury found Graham guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of abuse of a corpse and one count of tampering with physical evidence in connection with the deaths. Graham is the father of Flippen’s son, who was 4 at the time of the killings. According to trial testimony, Graham contended he last saw her on Mother’s Day that year – May 9 – when he and the boy brought her a card and flowers at her job at McMurray Hills Manor nursing home. Graham is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole in Graterford penitentiary for the double murder. Over the years, his appeals to state Superior and Supreme courts resulted in affirmations of his convictions.
But, seven years later, Graham’s case is still in court.
Under the Post-Conviction Relief Act, Graham, who has pored over trial transcripts of testimony and is acting as his own attorney, is demanding he be given access to evidence, including the results of DNA testing, cellphone records that revealed locations, crime scene photos, and transcripts of opening and closing arguments.
“However, not one representative of the District Attorney’s Office of Washington County has given any effort to respond,” Graham complained in a document filed with the court in March.
Judge John DiSalle in late April gave the prosecution 60 days to answer Graham’s motion.
Assistant District Attorney Jerome Moschetta was served with a copy of Graham’s filing. He said at one time, it was his responsibility to handle all appeals.
“I don’t know if I’m keeping this,” he said Tuesday. “(Graham)’s filed various things. He’s filing on his own. It’s my understanding that he does not want counsel appointed to represent him. If he requests it, he would be entitled. No court has denied him of that.”
Graham asked for “sanctions” against the district attorney’s office, but he does not elaborate.
“I don’t know what he means” Moschetta continued. “I haven’t had a good opportunity to examine what he’s asking for. We will make a filing by the deadline to answer that.”
There are some other plot twists related to the Graham case.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Lucas prosecuted the case against Graham. In 2013, he was elected to the Washington County bench.
Then-judge Paul Pozonsky presided at Graham’s trial a year before he stepped down from the bench. He later faced a criminal case of his own, admitting to the theft of cocaine evidence. The ex-judge was sentenced to serve 30 days in the county jail and a year’s probation.
Lucas’ first-floor courtroom is the same one that had been used by Pozonsky, although not for the Graham trial.