Com. v. Koehler

• Decision Date: 02 September 1999
• Citation: 737 A.2d 225,558 Pa. 334
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. John Joseph KOEHLER, Jr., Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

737 A.2d 225

558 Pa. 334

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. John Joseph KOEHLER, Jr., Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued November 16, 1998.

Decided September 2, 1999.

Reargument Denied October 27, 1999.

Leonard J. Frawley, Honesdale, for appellants.

Robert B. McGuinness, Towanda, Robert A. Graci, Harrisburg, for Commonwealth.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION

NEWMAN, Justice.

John Joseph Koehler (Appellant) has filed a direct appeal¹ from the judgment of sentence of the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County that sentenced him to death following two convictions for first-degree murder.² After a thorough review of the record sent to this Court,³ and the claims raised by Appellant, we affirm the sentences of death.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Regina Clark (Regina) and her nine-year-old son, Austin Hopper (Austin), were killed on April 18, 1995, by William Curley (Curley), at the urging and insistence of Appellant as part of his training of the young Curley for a future career as a "hit man." The bizarre facts regarding the deaths of Regina and Austin, as testified to by Curley at Appellant's trial, are as follows. Curley had known the Appellant since he was very young. By August of 1994, Appellant had told Curley that he was a hit man for the mob. Appellant repeated his claim of being a hit man many times to Curley. Appellant also spoke to Curley about his entering the "profession", promising that Curley could make "six digits" in the field. Curley, who turned eighteen on August 9, 1994, did not dismiss the idea out of hand because he "... thought it would be all right, cause I thought it was going to be more along the lines of people like drug dealers and mob men, people that would hurt innocent people." N.T. Vol. VII, p. 20. Accordingly, Appellant told Curley that he would train him for the business. Charline Benefield, with whom Appellant lived while in Arkansas in late 1994, also testified that Appellant had told her that he was training Curley to be a hit man. N.T. Vol. IV, p. 104.

On April 17, 1995, Curley was staying at the home of his friends Melissa Mack (Mack) and Ricky Hunsinger (Hunsinger). Curley received a message to call Appellant, which he did, and at that time Appellant told him he was bringing "two packages" to Curley and asked if he could "deliver them". Curley agreed. Appellant arrived at the house at 4:00 a.m. on April 18, 1995, accompanied by Regina and Austin.⁴ Appellant apparently met Regina while he was living in Arkansas. According to the testimony of Kerrien Ramsey (Ramsey), Ramsey also met Appellant in Arkansas, and, through him met and became friends with Regina, with whom Appellant was romantically involved. Ramsey accompanied Regina, Austin, and Appellant on the trip from Arkansas to New Jersey in late February or early March of 1995. Ramsey testified at trial that on April 16 or 17, 1995, while they were in the bedroom of his mother's apartment,⁵ Appellant showed Ramsey a loaded gun and told her that he would kill Regina before she left New Jersey to go back to Arkansas.⁶

Curley also testified that in the early morning hours of April 18, 1995, while Mack, Regina and Austin remained at the house, Curley and Appellant drove to Lounsberry, New York, where Appellant was to pick up money wired to him through Western Union. It was on the drive to New York that Appellant explained that he wanted Curley to kill Regina. At trial Curley testified that he told Appellant he did not want to do it, but Appellant insisted that he "had to", or Appellant would kill Curley. On the drive back to Pennsylvania, Appellant handed Curley a loaded .22 caliber Baretta to use for the murder. Also, on the return drive the pair spent approximately an hour driving around looking for a place to put Regina's body. They found an abandoned refrigerator in a dump, which Appellant examined, and then told Curley to place Regina's body inside the refrigerator. At this point Curley again told Appellant that he did not want to kill Regina, to which Appellant replied, "kill or be killed." N.T. Vol. VII, p. 47.

The pair returned to the Mack/Hunsinger house, picked up Regina and Austin, and then proceeded to Settlers Restaurant. Appellant entered the restaurant while Curley, Regina and Austin drove off, Regina having been told they were to pick up a car Appellant needed for the drive back to her home in Arkansas. In fact, Curley was to go to Stone Jug Road to kill Regina and Austin. The trio arrived at Stone Jug Road and stopped after Curley told Regina he had car problems. They got out of the car, and as Regina was looking for an oil leak, Curley pulled the gun and aimed it at her. (Regina was unaware of this.) Curley testified that he "couldn't do it," so he put the gun away and returned to Settlers Restaurant. At the restaurant, while Regina and her son sat in the car, Appellant again told Curley that he had to find some place to kill Regina. They then decided that the murder should take place at the house of Janet Schrader (Ms. Schrader). Curley knew and was friendly with Kirk Schrader (Kirk), the son of Ms. Schrader. The four drove to the Schrader home and Curley pulled the car into the garage, the location that Appellant had told Curley would be a good place to kill Regina and Austin. While Austin, Regina and Appellant entered the house, Curley remained alone in the garage. A short time later Appellant returned with Kirk and, in front of him, suggested possible ways to kill Regina. However, before any murder took place, Appellant and Curley left the Schrader residence for Wysox, Pennsylvania, and the parking lot of Citizens Bank. During the drive to Wysox, Curley again told Appellant that he did not think he could kill Regina. Appellant's response was that he had to kill her.

After Curley and Appellant returned to the Schraders', Curley entered the garage and Appellant went into the house. When Regina entered the garage, Curley shot her three times in the head. He then picked her up and placed her in the trunk of the car. Appellant came to the garage, checked Regina's pulse, and said that she was still alive and told Curley that he should slit her throat. Curley got a knife and then he and Kirk entered the car and drove off. Curley testified that he heard a thumping noise coming from the trunk of the car shortly after he left the Schrader garage.

After dropping Kirk off at his friend Roger Hitchcock's (Hitchcock) house,⁷ Curley went on to the dump he had discovered earlier in the day. At the dump Curley took Regina's body from the trunk, slightly cut her throat with the knife, placed her body in the refrigerator, closed the refrigerator's door, left the dump and returned to the Schraders'.

When he returned, Appellant told Curley that he had to shoot Austin, too, since Austin was a "loose link." At about 2:30 that afternoon Curley told Austin to come out to the garage and, when he did, Curley shot him three times in his head and at least twice in his body. Curley picked up his body and placed it in the trunk of the car. Appellant then came out to the garage and looked into the trunk at Austin's body. Curley then drove the car to "Snake Road" where he placed Austin's body in a sluice pipe.

Curley returned to the Schrader residence, where Appellant cleaned up the blood in the trunk of the car. The two departed the Schrader home together and, after buying a chain, a lock and some spray paint, returned to the Mack/Hunsinger residence. At dusk the two returned to the dump, to chain and lock the refrigerator containing the body of Regina. The chain, however, was too short to circle the refrigerator. The two then drove to "Twin Ponds", near the Schrader house, and, at Appellant's suggestion, Curley threw the knife and gun used in the murders into the pond. Appellant then drove Curley back to the Mack/Hunsinger residence, left him and drove away alone. The next Sunday, April 23, 1995, Curley moved to North Carolina.

The bodies of Regina and Austin were not immediately discovered. It was not until April 26, 1995, when Richard Morris, searching for recyclables, came upon the refrigerator containing Regina's body and opened it. The state police were then called. Mack heard that a body had been found in a refrigerator approximately half a mile from her home, and, when she heard the news broadcast a description of the clothing on the body, Mack recognized it as the clothing worn by Regina when she was at her residence in the early morning hours of April 18, 1995. Mack called the police and later in the day identified the body of Regina at the Robert Packer Hospital, and she also informed the police that Regina had been traveling with a child. Mack gave police permission to search her home, where the police recovered a can of spray paint, a lock and bullets.

The police went to North Carolina on April 28, 1995 to interview Curley. Immediately after they arrived, Curley confessed to the shootings. Curley was taken to the Goldsboro Police Department and, while en route, gave police the location where Austin's body could be found. While in North Carolina, Curley also provided information concerning where the murder weapon could be found and provided details of the crimes. Curley also implicated Appellant in the murders. The police found Austin's body at approximately 11:00 p.m. on April 28, 1995. On April 29, 1995, the police recovered the discarded gun and knife from Twin Ponds.

Appellant was arrested for the murders of Regina and Austin. Trial testimony began on March 25, 1996. In addition to the evidence outlined above, Isidore Mihalakis, M.D., a forensic pathologist, testified with reference to the injuries of Regina and Austin. Dr. Mihalakis testified that the cause of Regina's death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of her death was homicide. Dr. Mihalakis testified that the cause of Austin's death was...