A former Saltsburg man convicted of killing three family members in Loyalhanna Township is asking the State Supreme Court to grant him a new trial.
The attorneys for Kevin Murphy have challenged a court ruling made by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meghan Billik-Defazio that ultimately upheld the guilty rulings connected with the deaths of Doris Murphy, Kris Murphy and Edith Tietge. The three were found shot at the family-owned auto glass repair shop in 2009. Murphy’s attorneys argued that his voluntary absence from a jury visit to the crime scene during the trial is a mistake that would warrant a new trial. Judge Billik-Defazio said that while that was a mistake, it was not one that would have had enough of an impact to overturn the jury’s verdict.
Murphy claimed he was given bad advice by his former lawyers concerning the site visit and that they had not properly investigated two other potential suspects. Murphy has denied any involvement in the shootings.
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