Prosecutors seek death penalty in Riddell House murder case
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the two men accused of murdering a pregnant woman in the Riddell House in September.
On Monday, McKean County District Attorney Ray Learn filed a Notice of Aggravating Circumstances in the case of Thomas Paul Haggie, and told The Era he plans to file one for Greggory Alan Theobald as well.
The two men are accused of choking and stabbing Megan Konopka, 21, who was 38 weeks pregnant with a son at the time of her death.
Haggie is set for arraignment in McKean County Court on Jan. 21, and Theobald is scheduled for Jan. 28. The district attorney must file a criminal information within 10 days of the scheduled arraignment.
“I expect to file a criminal information within 10 days of Theobald’s arraignment,” Learn said.
The notice of aggravating circumstances for Haggie states, “The defendant has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person,” and that, “At the time of the killing, the victim was in her third trimester of pregnancy or the defendant had knowledge of the victim’s pregnancy.”
Haggie, 29, who was renting the room at the Riddell House where Konopka was killed; and Theobald, 20, of Congress Street in Bradford, are both charged with homicide, homicide of an unborn child and conspiracy to commit both homicides.
Both men are incarcerated without bail.
Haggie’s attorneys are Gary Knaresboro and Mike Marshall of Clearfield County. Theobald’s attorneys are Assistant Public Defender Dennis Luttenauer and Jefferson County attorney John Ingros. Attorneys Knaresboro, Marshall and Ingros are certified by Pennsylvania to defend death penalty cases.
Both Haggie and Theobald have given confessions to the police.
On Sept. 13, Bradford City Police were contacted by a woman in California to whom Haggie had sent cell phone photos of the murder scene. Officers recognized the Riddell House from the photos and went there to check on a possible murder in a room rented by Haggie.
The door was unlocked, and an officer entered the room, finding Konopka on the floor showing no signs of life.
Interviews with witnesses at the Riddell House led police to Theobald, who was arrested soon after. Haggie had fled, and was arrested in Elmira, N.Y.
The last time the death penalty was sought in McKean County Court of Common Pleas was in 1999 in the case of Timothy Williams, who shot Kane Borough Police Officer Steve Jerman at a routine traffic stop in Kane. However, Williams was not convicted of first-degree murder; he was convicted of the lesser charge of third-degree murder. Therefore, the death penalty did not apply. Williams is serving 22 to 47 years in state prison.
In 2001, James McMahon was convicted of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Link Dowell III in a bar fight in the Hotel Bradford. However, the prosecutor’s office did not seek the death penalty in that case. McMahon is serving life in prison.
http://www.bradfordera.com/articles/2010/01/12/news/doc4b4be6f401fc1534510986
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