Wife testifies against husband accused in graduation party killing
Brenda Rollison broke down on the stand Friday as she recalled enjoying her daughter’s college graduation party at their Buffalo Township home two weeks ago when she heard a “bang” outside and found her neighbor fatally shot in the chest while her husband, Richard Rollison, stood a few feet away.
The graduation party for McKayla Rollison was winding down shortly before 10 p.m. May 15 when many attending the celebration came inside to play games, but Richard Rollison and neighbor William M. Newman Jr. remained outside, she testified.
That’s when the group heard a loud noise, prompting McKayla to tell her mother something was wrong.
“Mom, I think you better go outside,” Brenda Rollison recalled hearing McKayla tell her.
“I went outside and saw Bill,” Brenda said of finding Newman lying on his back bleeding on the concrete patio.
Brenda Rollison told her daughter to call 911 as she began performing CPR on Newman, while she could only see the dark silhouette of Richard Rollison standing by the grill. At first she thought Newman had been stabbed, she said, but Richard Rollison told her he had been shot.
“I tried to save his life,” Brenda Rollison said while breaking down in tears as she was shown police investigation photos of Newman’s body.
Richard Rollison, 54, of 594 Pleasant Valley Road, was charged with one count of felony criminal homicide, and District Judge Ethan Ward ordered him to stand trial on that charge during his preliminary hearing in central court Friday afternoon. Rollison appeared for his preliminary hearing by video from the Washington County jail, where he’s been held without bond since the morning after the shooting.
Washington County Coroner Tim Warco testified at the preliminary hearing that Newman died at the scene from two gunshot wounds to his torso, although the autopsy report has not been completed.
State police Trooper William Dowlin, who investigated the death, testified that McKayla told a Washington County 911 operator that her father had shot Newman and later placed the .40-caliber handgun on his bed. Investigators found the gun on Richard Rollison’s bed, along with .40-caliber shell casings outside, Dowlin testified.
Rollison’s defense attorney, Jennifer Popovich of Pittsburgh-based Shrager Defense Attorneys, raised the possibility of invoking the Castle Doctrine self-defense claim if the case makes it to trial, although she said it “remains to be seen” if they will use that defense.
Investigators have not said what preceded the shooting, and no was outside at the time except for Newman and Richard Rollison.
First Assistant District Attorney Jason Walsh said the motive is still under investigation, but the two men appeared to be friendly with each other and that Newman had been invited to the graduation party.
“They were friends, they were neighbors,” Walsh said. “They were over at the house and friendly.”