In 1834, Pennsylvania became the first state to ban public executions.  Counties, including Blair County, conducted their own executions by hanging, inside the walls of the county jail.  In 1913, Pennsylvania began using the electric chair at Rockview State Prison in Centre County for all executions, and the task became the duty of the state.  From 1915 to 1962, 348 men and 2 women were put to death there. The law required six witnesses to be present and testify to the death; in addition, no more than six members of the media were also permitted.  An electrician was hired to pull the actual switch, gradually sending 12 amperes and 2000 volts through the condemned.

In 1990, Governor Casey changed the method of execution to lethal injection, but it was not used until 1995.

Pennsylvania’s current definitions are thus:

§ 2501. Criminal homicide.
(a) Offense defined.-A person is guilty of criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another human being.
(b) Classification.-Criminal homicide shall be classified as murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter.

§ 2502. Murder.
(a) Murder of the first degree.-A criminal homicide constitutes murder of the first degree when it is committed by an intentional killing.
(b) Murder of the second degree.-A criminal homicide constitutes murder of the second degree when it is committed while defendant was engaged as a principal or
an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony.
(c) Murder of the third degree.-All other kinds of murder shall be murder of the third degree. Murder of the third degree is a felony of the first degree.
(d) Definitions.-As used in this section the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection:
. . . .
“Intentional killing.”
Killing by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing.
“Perpetration of a felony.”
The act of the defendant in engaging in or being an accomplice in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing, or attempting to
commit robbery, rape, or deviate sexual intercourse by force or threat of force, arson, burglary or kidnapping.
“Principal.”
A person who is the actor or perpetrator of the crime.

The death penalty is applied in Pennsylvania in cases where a defendant is found guilty of first degree murder. A separate hearing is held for the consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. If at least one of the ten aggravating circumstances listed in the law and none of the eight mitigating factors are found to be present, the verdict must be death.

Any post-trial motions are usually then heard and considered, and then the convicted person is formally sentenced. An automatic review of the case by the state Supreme Court follows. The court can either uphold the sentence or vacate it and impose life sentence.

If the Supreme Court affirms the sentence, the case goes to the Governor’s Office where it is reviewed by appropriate legal counsel and, ultimately, by the Governor himself. Only the Governor may set the execution date, which is done through the signing of a document known as the Governor’s Warrant. By law, all executions are carried out at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview.

• ‘to memorialize the victims of murder in Blair County;
• to store historical information on the victims, the killers, the trials, and the sentencings;
• to make the future book, “Blair County: Murders, Manslaughter and other Violent Ends 1846-1946″.

This project began after an acquaintance was a victim of a murder in another county.  It did not take long for him to fade from the newspapers.  His killer remained on the front page, and in the news, as his trial and proceedings developed.  He has remained in the news, even years later, as he files various appeals and motions.  The victim is forgotten.    Victims of manslaughter and other homicide charges, such as vehicular, may not not included.  Because this site is a work-in-progress, there may be victims listed here whose names will later be removed.  This would occur if further research into some of the older cases reveals they were concluded without a murder conviction, or if pending cases are resolved without a first, second, or third degree conviction.  Manslaughter convictions of particular interest may be included, especially if the original charge was of murder, and will be indicated as such.  The other exception will be for cases of murder-suicide.  Obviously, when a murderer commits suicide immediately following his or her crime, no charges are filed.  These cases will be documented here.  The victims of violent crime, not only in Blair County, but everywhere, deserve to be remembered.  The public should be able to see “what happened.”  Was justice served, were the guilty punished?

All content on this site is copyrighted by the author.

Obviously, many different sources have been used to build this site.  I would like to thank especially the Altoona Mirror and its writers; going back to 1876, they have been the primary reporters of most of these incidents.  I have also leaned heavily on the old Altoona Tribune, the Blair County Prothonatary’s office, and numerous websites storing scans of historical newspapers and family history information.  These sources will be fully referenced in the forthcoming book.   Research is still be conducted and this site should be considered INCOMPLETE.  I have made the decision to limit the forthcoming book to Blair County’s first 100 years.  I have found it desirable to have an end date; otherwise, the book will never see print.  More recent cases continue to have developments that would quickly render the book out-of-date.  The website will continue to list all victims as a memorial.

Should you feel that information here is incorrect, incomplete, or offensive, please note that on the relevant page using the comment option.

All comments will be studied and changes, if appropriate and necessary, made.  If the comment itself is helpful, it will be approved to become part of that page.

Thank you to everyone who has so far expressed interest and support.