At his request, convicted murderer Kevin Murphy’s stalled attempt to get a new trial has been postponed for a fifth time.
Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio last week granted a 120-day extension for the 57-year-old Saltsburg man to file an amended motion for post-conviction collateral relief. Murphy is asking the court to rule that his original attorneys, Mark Bolkovac and Bob Bell, did not effectively defend him during his 2013 trial for the shooting deaths of his mother, sister, and aunt. Prosecutors said he killed the women at the family’s glass business in Loyalhanna Township because they objected to his relationship with a married woman.
Murphy’s death warrant was signed by state Corrections Secretary John Wetzel in November of 2016. His new court-appointed attorneys asked last year for access to the physical evidence and trial exhibits, including the .22 caliber revolver used to shoot the three victims.
In 2016, the state Supreme Court dismissed Murphy’s appeals of both his conviction and his death sentence.
The latest order was dated July 11th, establishing a new deadline in November.
