Westmoreland County Judge Megan Bilik-Defazio last week denied a motion by Melissa Fox-Beacom for access to her mental health records to assist in her appeal of her murder conviction. Fox-Beacom and co-defendant Matthew Bates were found guilty in February and sentenced to life in prison without parole in May for the December 2023 murder of Fox-Beacom’s mother, Alice Robson of Saint Clair Township. Robson’s body was found buried beneath her back porch outside of New Florence.
Fox-Beacom’s mental competency was an issue in the pretrial process. She’d been evaluated to determine her ability to aid in her defense at her trial, and her attorney had her examined again to help him decide if an insanity defense might be used, telling the judge he would “defer to the experts.”
A third defendant, Robert Jack, has admitted he fired the two shots that killed Robson. In their appeals, Fox-Beacom and Bates claim Jack is solely responsible. Jack’s trial has been postponed four times and is currently not on the court schedule. He is scheduled for a status conference on July 21st.
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