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Westmoreland County prosecutors were willing to let one of the six defendants charged with the torture slaying of a mentally handicapped woman plead guilty to a lesser charge.
District Attorney John Peck offered to drop a first-degree murder charge against Robert Masters if he agreed to testify truthfully against the other five suspects in the February 2010 stabbing death of Jennifer Daugherty, 30, of Mt. Pleasant, he said in a Oct. 29, 2010, letter.
Masters, 37, was charged in the slaying with Ricky Smyrnes, 25; Melvin Knight, 22; Amber Meidinger, 21; Peggy Miller, 28; and Angela Marinucci, 19. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Meidinger, Smyrnes and Knight.
Police said Daugherty was held captive for more than two days in a Greensburg apartment shared by the defendants. She was tortured, beaten and stabbed to death before her body was found in a trash can in the Greensburg Salem Middle School parking lot.
Details of the plea bargain talks emerged Friday during an appeal hearing for Marinucci, who was convicted in May of first-degree murder and sentenced to a mandatory life sentence. Marinucci was jealous of Daugherty for interfering with the convicted killer's relationship with Smyrnes, according to trial testimony.
Defense attorney Michael DeMatt said Marinucci deserves a new trial because Judge Rita Hathaway did not tell jurors that Masters and Miller were unavailable to testify.
In Peck's letter, he wrote that Masters could plead guilty to third-degree murder and conspiracy. His sentence would be left up to Hathaway after all the alleged accomplices were tried, he said.
The maximum sentence for third-degree murder is 20 to 40 years in prison.
In January, defense attorney Bill Gallishen asked for a sentence of five to 10 years. Masters would not testify unless a plea bargain included a specific sentencing recommendation from Peck, Gallishen said in a letter to the prosecutor.
No additional offer came, Gallishen said. Masters testified against his alleged accomplices at a pretrial hearing last fall. He was not called as a witness during Marinucci's trial.
In court yesterday, Gallishen said Masters would have testified for the prosecution, but Gallishen would not let Masters testify for the defense.
"I indicated he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination," Gallishen testified.
Defense attorney Laura Gutnick testified Miller also refused to testify for Marinucci.
Meidinger testified against Marinucci with no plea deal, providing jurors with a chilling, detailed account of Daugherty's final days.
County Detective Richard Kranitz explained the decision to use Meidinger and not Miller and Masters.
"They were inferior (witnesses) to Meidinger," Kranitz testified.
Smyrnes is scheduled to appear in court next month for a hearing to determine whether his diminished mental abilities preclude the prosecution from seeking the death penalty against him.
Knight's trial is scheduled to begin in January.
The family of murder victim Jennifer Daugherty expressed elation yesterday after the attorney for Angela Marinucci withdrew a petition to have her case transferred to juvenile court.
"It's a tremendous victory for the family and for Jennifer," Bobby Murphy, Daugherty's stepfather, said outside the courtroom.
Marinucci is accused of ganging up with five other suspects to kill the mentally challenged Daugherty in a Greensburg apartment after she had been tortured. She will be tried as an adult in the February 2010 homicide.
District Attorney John Peck will seek the death penalty against three of the accused. Marinucci, 18 , is ineligible for the death penalty because of the age at which she is accused of committing the crime.
Daugherty's sister, Joy Burkholder, said that avoiding the death penalty is all the luck Marinucci deserves.
"She will not be put to death. I don't think she deserves any more of a break. If she doesn't want to spend her life in jail, she shouldn't kill people," Burkholder said.
Marinucci's attorney, Michael DeMatt, told Judge Rita Hathaway during a brief hearing that he and Marinucci decided to keep her case in Common Pleas Court.
"After reviewing everything and speaking with my client, we decided it was not in her best interest to proceed" with the transfer, DeMatt said after the hearing.
Daugherty was beaten and tortured for more than two days and then stabbed. Her body, tied with Christmas decorations and wrapped in garbage bags, was found in a garbage can in the parking lot of Greensburg Salem Middle School on Feb. 11, 2010.
Marinucci testified that she understood and agreed with her attorney's decision. "I felt comfortable to deny (withdraw) it," Marinucci told Hathaway.
She was living with the five other suspects who allegedly abused and murdered Daugherty when she came to their apartment for a visit.
Marinucci, along with Ricky V. Smyrnes, 25; Melvin Knight, 21; Amber Meidinger, 21; Peggy Darlene Miller, 28; and Robert Loren Masters, 37, is charged with first-degree homicide, kidnapping and related charges.
Marinucci and Smyrnes were romantically involved, and she became enraged when she thought Daugherty made sexual overtures toward Smyrnes, according to previous testimony.
Attorneys for Masters and Miller are trying to negotiate plea bargains. Masters, who testified against the group in a pretrial hearing, claimed that he and Miller were in another room when Daugherty was stabbed.
Peck is seeking the death penalty against Smyrnes, Knight and Meidinger.
DeMatt asked Hathaway to direct the prosecution to provide him with potential evidence for trial, including text messages and telephone records for several defendants and a copy of a report following Greensburg police Detective Jerry Vernail's interview of a new witness.
Marinucci has a history of mental illness and no prior criminal record, according to DeMatt.
Had she been tried as a juvenile and convicted of homicide, she could not have been held in custody beyond her 21st birthday. A conviction of first-degree murder in adult court carries a mandatory life sentence.
"If a plea deal is out there, I would be more than happy to explore all options," DeMatt said. "We are preparing for trial."
Peck declined to comment about a possible plea deal for Marinucci.
Jury selection will begin May 2, Hathaway said.
Read more: Daugherty torture suspect to be tried as adult - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_731761.html#ixzz1JcYPg1To
Meidinger wants the judge to prohibit the prosecution from seeking the death penalty. Smarto argued in her court brief that federal law bars the prosecution from seeking the death penalty in cases where a defendant did not actively participate in a killing.Did she not play a major role in holding Jennifer against her will? What about when Jennifer was bound and beaten by Amber? When she was raped? What about the "family" decision to murder her? Were these acts committed with extreme disregard for human life? I believe so. Amber Meidinger should get the death penalty. I believe they all should.
"A non-murdering participant in a felony murder may not be subject to the death penalty unless he played a major role in the murder and acted with extreme disregard for human life," Smarto wrote.
Smarto is expected to present evidence at a future hearing that Meidinger's mental capacity bars the prosecution from seeking the death penalty. Smarto wrote that the defense is awaiting records of Meidinger's mental history and an analysis of her mental abilities by a neuropsychologist.