Death penalty law change sought for killers of elderly
State legislators said today they are backing an amendment to Pennsylvania judicial procedure that would make the first-degree murder of a person over 60 years old or of the infirm an aggravating circumstance allowing juries to consider the possibility of the death penalty upon a guilty verdict.
The proposal -- House Bill 2464 -- was proposed by state Rep. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, in response to the June 4, 2003, beating and stabbing murder of Jean Heck, 78, in her Upper St. Clair home by her landscaper. Her killer, Patrick James Stollar, 29, was sentenced to death by the jury on Feb. 22 because there was an aggravating circumstance -- the killing was committed during the commission of a felony, the home-invasion robbery and burglary.
Despite that outcome, the prosecutor in the case, Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli, said the bill would close a loophole of age-based protection that currently applies only to the very young -- the murder of anyone under 12 is an aggravating circumstance, but not killing an elderly person. And, it would give prosecutors statewide one more tool in such cases, he said at a news conference today in Mt. Lebanon, called by Rep. Smith to discuss the legislation.
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