The attorney for Kevin Murphy has asked for yet another extension of time to file an amended motion for an appeal of his murder conviction. It would be the seventh extension for the 58-year-old Saltsburg man, who in 2013 was found guilty of the murders of his mother, sister, and aunt ten years ago.
Attorney Brian Aston asked Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio for another two months, after having been granted a two-month continuance in January. Aston, who contends that Murphy’s previous attorneys did not effectively defend him during his trial in 2013, told the judge he still has witnesses to interview and that he is reviewing more than 20,000 pages of records in the case.
Murphy’s mother, Doris, sister, Kris, and aunt, Edith Tietge were found dead at the family’s glass business in Loyalhanna Township, Westmoreland County. Prosecutors said Murphy shot them because they objected to his relationship with a married woman from Apollo, who moved in with him two days after the killings and became his fiance. His original attorneys, Mark Bolkovac and Bob Bell, argued that there were others who could have had motives to kill the women, including the woman and an employee of the business with whom she started living after Murphy’s arrest. No one else was ever charged in the shootings.
Murphy is sitting on Pennsylvania’s death row, serving his sentence at SCI Greene County.
