Jury selection was completed yesterday and testimony is scheduled to begin today before Indiana County President Judge Thomas Bianco in the Ronald Weiss murder retrial.
Weiss was already convicted once of killing 16-year-old Barbara Bruzda in October 1978 at her father’s bar in Tunnelton. Her body was discovered buried beneath some leaves the following February and in 1997, Weiss was found guilty of beating her to death with a tire iron. A key part of the prosecution’s case was the testimony of Weiss’s former common-law wife, who took the stand against him after state law changed to allow spouses to testify against each other.
Weiss blamed Bruzda’s death on his ex-wife’s brothers, who he said beat him and killed the teenager.
The conviction was overturned in 2018 based on misconduct by the state attorney general’s prosecution, which claimed no special treatment had been given to two prison inmates who testified against Weiss, when they clearly had been given special treatment.
In court yesterday, Judge Bianco clarified for the defense his prior ruling on the use of testimony from the original trial. The jury was quickly seated and the trial is schedule to begin this morning.
Meanwhile the group “Justice for Barbie Bruzda” is encouraging supporters to come together and to “raise their voices for Barbie inside and outside the courthouse.”
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