It appears that Arthur Whitfield Jr. has run out of legal options in his quest for a new trial in the death of his ex-girlfriend in December of 2013.
State Superior Court has denied Whitfield’s “application for remand”, which would have sent his case back to Westmoreland County Court for possible retrial. The court also denied the appointment of an attorney to represent Whitfield in further court proceedings, citing a “Turney/Finley letter”, which is correspondence from the attorney who would have been assigned the case, who indicated that Whitfield’s petition for post-conviction relief is without merit.
The bottom line: the appellate court is not buying Whitfield’s argument for a new trial.
In 2016, the 55-year-old former Josephine man pleaded guilty to second degree murder, burglary, and firearms offenses for breaking into the Derry Borough home of 36-year-old Holly Sloan George and shooting her eight times as she watched TV in an upstairs bedroom with her 15-year-old daughter. She died several weeks later. Whitfield later appealed to withdraw the plea, claiming that he was coerced by his public defendant into admitting guilt, but the appeal was denied.
Whitfield is serving life in prison without the chance for parole.
