Com. v. Steele

Decision Date05 June 1989
Citation559 A.2d 904,522 Pa. 61
PartiesCOMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Roland William STEELE, Appellant. 36 w.d. 1988
CourtPennsylvania Supreme Court

John P. Liekar, Sr., Office of Public Defender and Paul A. Tershel, Washington, for appellant.

John C. Pettit, Dist. Atty. and William A. Johnson, Asst. Dist. Atty., Washington, for appellee.

Before NIX, C.J., and LARSEN, FLAHERTY, McDERMOTT, ZAPPALA, PAPADAKOS and STOUT, JJ.

OPINION

McDERMOTT, Justice.

The appellant was tried by a jury and found guilty of three counts of murder in the first degree, 1 two counts of robbery 2 and two counts of theft by unlawful taking. 3 After further deliberations that same jury rendered three separate verdicts of death for the three first degree murder convictions. 4 Post trial motions were denied and the judgement of sentence was entered on March 25, 1988. Two consecutive sentences of ten to twenty years were imposed on the robbery convictions. The theft convictions were merged with the robbery convictions. Appellant directly appealed the judgement of sentence. 5

On June 23, 1985, the appellant was arrested in connection with the deaths and robberies of Lucille Horner, age 88, Minnie Warrick, age 86 and Sarah Kuntz, age 85. The bodies of the victims were found on the morning of June 22, 1985, in a secluded, wooded area, off a dirt road in Cecil Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. The police investigation that followed led the police to the appellant who was arrested on June 23, 1985, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. The appellant raises several claims of trial error. Before addressing these claims, we must first determine whether the evidence presented was sufficient to sustain his convictions. 6

When a criminal agency intrudes upon the common place, the ordinary way of things, it explodes them into shards and splinters and they and people are changed forever. The shards and splinters, however, can often be collected to show what was and who did what. Such evidence is circumstantial and can be collected, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, who did what to whom. Here to recount the evidence is to draw that picture.

The record reveals that on Saturday, June 22, 1985, at approximately 6:15, a.m., Cedra McDavis, discovered the body of Lucille Horner and called the police. When they arrived, Trooper William Cunningham of the Pennsylvania State Police, discovered the bodies of Minnie Warrick and Sarah Kuntz under a near-by pile of discarded tires. Subsequently a Doctor Earnest L. Abernathy, the Chief Deputy Coroner of Washington County, performed the autopsies at 1:30, p.m., Saturday, June 22, 1985. He placed the times of death around 20 hours prior to the autopsies, with a four to five hour, plus or minus margin of error.

Police had learned through friends and family members of the victims, that all three had attended a charitable luncheon together at the Club Internationale in the Millcraft Shopping Center the day before on Friday, June 21, 1985. The luncheon began around 1:00, p.m.. It was also learned that they had driven to this function in Mrs. Horner's car. 7 At trial three witnesses testified that they had seen the appellant on Friday, June 21, 1985, between the times of 11:30, a.m., and 2:25, p.m., in the City of Washington. 8 Subsequently three different witnesses testified that they had seen the appellant with the victims in, or near, the Millcraft Shopping Center.

The first of these witnesses, Mrs. Mildred Stitler, testified that she lived in the Bassettown Manor Apartments, located next to the Millcraft Shopping Center, and that from her apartment windows she had an unobstructed view of the shopping center's parking lot. She testified that on that Friday, from her apartment window, she had seen a bald headed colored man, who she identified as the appellant, wandering through the parking lot. She testified that she saw him go up to the "lady that had the car" and point to the tire of the car, apparently trying to show her that something was wrong with it. She testified that the lady then got out of the car and eventually got into the passenger-seat and that the appellant then got into the driver-side. She further testified that she then saw the appellant and this lady, pick up two other ladies who apparently were waiting for the car. The second witness, Kimberly Oyler, testified that she was in the Millcraft Shopping Center's parking lot on Friday, June 21, 1985 9 and that she had seen the appellant holding the car door open to Mrs. Horner's Dodge Dart, for Mrs. Kuntz, who was getting into the backdoor, on the passenger-side of the car. 10 In addition she stated that the appellant was wearing a dark colored suit without a necktie. The third witness, Harry Crothers, testified that at approximately 2:30 that day, a vehicle coming from the Millcraft Shopping Center entered the roadway in front of his vehicle on Franklin Street in Washington. He testified that his friend's mother-in-law, Mrs. Horner, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, that two ladies were in the back seat and that a bald headed man whom he identified as the appellant, was driving the vehicle.

Next a Joseph Klements testified that on Friday, June 21, 1985, at approximately 3:00 or 3:30, the appellant drove into his service station, alone. He testified that the appellant was driving a cream colored, 1974, four door Dodge or Plymouth, which was in remarkable condition. At the trial he identified the car that the appellant was driving that day, as Mrs. Horner's car. This identification was from a photograph of the vehicle. 11 He also testified that on Saturday, the 22nd of June of 1985, he went to the Washington State Police barracks and identified the appellant from a photo lineup. 12 He also stated that the appellant had been wearing a three piece suit.

Joseph Klements testified that the appellant was at his station for approximately five to seven minutes and that when he left he was travelling toward Hendersonville but then passed the station going towards Cannonsburg, on Cecil-Henderson Road, approximately five minutes later. He further stated that the appellant returned in Mrs. Horner's car at approximately 4:15 that same day and that he coasted down the hill from the Cannonsburg direction and then into the service station. He explained that when the appellant returned, the car was stalled and was then started by his son, Victor.

Victor Klements, Joseph Klements' son, testified 13 that he had a conversation with the appellant when he first came into the service station's store to buy two cans of soda. He stated that the appellant told him he grew up in the area and that the appellant had asked him about people from the area. In addition he testified that he saw the appellant give an eleven year old boy, Willie Scafranski, a gold chain. This chain was subsequently introduced into evidence and was identified as belonging to the victim, Mrs. Minnie Warrick. 14 He also testified that the appellant had returned to the store at approximately 4:15. He then stated that the appellant had coasted his car down the hill on the road coming from Cannonsburg, that the car was flooded and that he helped him start the car. After which the appellant then departed. Janice Klements, the wife of Joseph Klements, testified that she had brought her husband his dinner that day and that she saw the defendant coast down the hill coming from the Cannonsburg direction into the station around 4:15. Further that it was a four-door, cream colored automobile. 15

Also testifying at trial, was Delha Woznicak. She testified that her home, up the hill from Klements Service Station, was broken into on Friday, June 21, 1985, some-time between 3:25 and 4:50 p.m.. 16 She identified evidence introduced at trial as items stolen from her home on day in question. These items included a Hitachi television the scales of justice, red lamps with striped shades, and pole lamp. Mrs. Woznicak also identified the bottom portion of a dress that she had found in her home while cleaning up after the burglary. This piece of clothing was the skirt to the dress worn by Mrs. Minnie Warrick on the day she was murdered. 17

Testimony at trial established that the appellant was in possession of the items stolen from the Woznicak home. This testimony was provided by Trooper Benard Stanek, of the Pennsylvania State Police, who testified that he participated in the search of the home of the appellant's girlfriend, Joan Whitlock, with whom the appellant was then living. In the search, items removed from the Woznicak home were recovered. 18 In addition Trooper Stanek testified that he measured the distance from Klements Service Station to were the victims bodies were found and that the distance was approximately 1.5 miles and was travelled by him in approximately 4 minutes by vehicle. In addition he testified that he measured the distance between Klements Service Station and the Woznicak residence and that the distance was approximately three tenths of a mile and that he travelled this route by vehicle in thirty seconds.

Trooper John Luppino, of the Pennsylvania State Police, testified to the respective distances between the various relevant locations. He testified that he travelled two different routes from Klements' Service Station to the Whitlock home. The first route was approximately 25.8 miles and required 35 minutes and 42 seconds by automobile and the second route was approximately 18.9 miles and required 29 minutes and 30 seconds by automobile. This was significant because the Commonwealth established through three witnesses, that at approximately 5:30 on Friday, June 21, 1985, the appellant was at the Whitlock home unloading the stolen items from the trunk of Mrs. Horner's car. He was observed taking these items into the Whitlock home. Notably one of these witnesses, a Cathryn Slusser, testified that she had seen the...

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