Man to appeal Loyalhanna triple-murder death sentence

The lawyer for an Indiana County man sentenced to death for the 2009 murders of his mother, sister and aunt in a northern Westmoreland County auto glass repair shop they owned said he needs to review trial evidence to perfect an appeal.

Defense attorney Brian Aston filed court documents Thursday asking for access to review the physical evidence and trial exhibits used during the 2013 trial that resulted in Kevin Murphy's conviction on three counts of first-degree murder.

Murphy, 56, was convicted in the shooting deaths of his mother, Doris Murphy, 69; sister Kris Murphy, 43; and aunt Edith Tietge, 81, at Ferguson Glass in Loyalhanna Township on April 23, 2009. The women worked at the family business, which Kevin Murphy owned.

Police said Murphy used a .22-caliber revolver to shoot each of them in the head because they disapproved of his romantic relationship with a married woman and didn't want her to live at the family home near Saltsburg.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected Murphy's appeal last year that challenged the evidence and the jury verdict as well as its finding that he should be sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary John Wetzel signed a death warrant for Murphy last November that was immediately stayed to allow for an additional appeal to be filed.

According to court records, Murphy filed a brief appeal on his own behalf that challenged the performance of his previous lawyers, Robert Bell and Mark Bolkovac, at trial.

Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio appointed Aston to serve as Murphy's new attorney and in January ordered that he file a more detailed appeal for Murphy within six months. Aston was given a six-month extension this month to file the appeal.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.