The attorney for Jack Edmundson Jr. has filed a motion for post conviction collateral relief in his homicide case.
Edmundson is serving life in prison without parole for the shooting death of Tunnelton gun shop owner Frank Petro on New Year’s Eve, 2013. He had extorted $146,000 from Petro by posing as an undercover detective investigating Petro for illegally selling raffle tickets. After the shooting, he called 911 and claimed he had shot Petro in self defense, but surveillance video clearly showed him reaching behind the counter, grabbing a gun and shooting Petro four times. When he pleaded guilty in 2015, he told Judge William Martin, “I’m not exactly sure why I did this.” He also pleaded guilty in several other cases, and while in prison, he attempted to escape by filing away the bars on his cell window and going on a diet to try to become thin enough to squeeze between them.
Attorney Andrew Skala filed the petition for relief on August 21st and asked the court for permission to hire a ballistics expert. Judge William Martin has scheduled a hearing for October 27th and last week signed an order for Edmundson to be transported to the county courthouse from his cell at SCI Pine Grove.
A petition for post conviction collateral relief is considered an “indirect appeal” for the court to reconsider a case after a “direct appeal” to Superior Court has been denied.
