A man who is serving life in prison for killing his father-in-law in 2012 is appealing his conviction, claiming the weight of the evidence against him does not support second degree murder.
The attorney for 38-year-old Shaun Fairman filed a post-sentence motion in Indiana County Court last winter. In June, Indiana County President Judge William Martin denied the motion, and attorney Andrew Skala filed an appeal with State Superior Court. This week, Judge Martin forwarded documents, including his June 19th opinion, which he said will serve as his statement before the appellate court.
Fairman shot and killed his father-in-law, Richard Shotts, at the North Mahoning Township home of Fairman’s wife, Jessica Shotts, after she had filed for divorce. Fairman claimed he had gone there intending to kill himself in front of her, but encountered her father instead, and he shot him. Jessica Shotts fled to an upstairs bedroom where she hid in a closet as her husband searched for her. She had previously sent her four children up to the attic. She shot Fairman through the closet door, wounding him in the shoulder, then held him at bay until police arrived.
Fairman is serving his life sentence at SCI Forest County. His previous appeals and motions before both Judge Martin and Superior Court have all been denied.
