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Pennsylvania inmate on life support granted medical release 49 years after murder conviction

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Pennsylvania inmate on life support granted medical release 49 years after murder conviction
  • Ezra Bozeman, a 68-year-old inmate serving a life sentence in Pennsylvania for a 1975 robbery and murder, was granted medical release by a judge.
  • Bozeman is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit due to sepsis and complications from quadriplegia.
  • His release petition was supported by Gov. Josh Shapiro and the superintendent of the state prison at Laurel Highlands.

An ailing prison inmate serving a life sentence in Pennsylvania for killing a man during a 1975 robbery won a medical release order from a judge Monday, although the decision came hours after he was put on life support.

Ezra Bozeman, 68, won the release from an Allegheny County judge while on a ventilator in an intensive care unit battling sepsis because of complications from his quadriplegia, his lawyers said in a statement.

Bozeman’s petition for medical release from prison was supported by Gov. Josh Shapiro and the superintendent of the state prison at Laurel Highlands where he has been incarcerated. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala had opposed Bozeman’s petition.

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Zappala’s office said Monday evening that it had yet to see a court order and, as a result, could not say whether it would appeal it. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review each reported that Judge Susan Evashavik DiLucente said during a court hearing Monday that she would grant the petition.

Ezra Bozeman, pictured above, a prison inmate serving a life sentence in Pennsylvania for killing a man during a 1975 robbery, has won a medical release order from a judge on Monday. (State Correctional Institution – Laurel Highlands)

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On Sunday night, Bozeman was rushed to the hospital.

Pennsylvania’s 15-year-old compassionate release law allows a judge to grant the transfer of a seriously ill inmate who is expected to die within one year to a private medical facility. Bozeman’s lawyers said they hoped his condition stabilizes so that he can be transferred to a long-term care facility.

“Ezra Bozeman has been a shining example of what it means to live as a dignified human being, even as he received poor medical care as a quadriplegic,” Sean Damon of Amistad Law Project said in a statement.

Bozeman was represented by the Abolitionist Law Center and Amistad Law Project.

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Bozeman emerged paralyzed from the chest down after a February surgery to remove a large blood clot near his spinal cord. After that, his lawyers filed papers seeking compassionate release.

Bozeman was convicted of second-degree murder in 1975 for killing Morris Weitz during a robbery at a dry cleaner in Pittsburgh. Bozeman has maintained his innocence, saying that he was not involved in the robbery and was nowhere near the scene, and that a key witness against him had recanted his testimony.

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Northeast

Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials

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Man with machete shot and killed by police, who then find 3 more dead inside home: officials

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Officials in Piscataway, New Jersey, noted Tuesday that an individual with a machete was shot and killed by police, who then found the subject’s mother and grandparents dead inside a home, WABC reported.

Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler noted that the suspect’s father dialed 911, the outlet noted.

When authorities arrived at the home, the man had a machete, authorities said, according to the outlet. Authorities attempted to utilize tasers against the man but indicated it did not stop the suspect, WABC noted. 

He allegedly charged at law enforcement officers with the weapon, and they opened fire and killed him, the outlet reported.

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Authorities with the Piscataway Police Department responded to a 911 call about someone with a knife. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

After the shooting, police found three people dead in the home, a press release from the New Jersey attorney general’s office notes.

“The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting that occurred on Monday, January 5, 2026, in Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey,” the release states.

Preliminary information indicated that authorities with the Piscataway Police Department had responded to a 911 call from someone who reported a person with a knife, the release indicates.

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Police shot a man armed with a knife Jan. 5, 2026, in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

“Officers subsequently shot and killed a man armed with a knife who they encountered at the residence,” the press release noted.

“A 2019 law … requires the Attorney General’s Office to conduct investigations of a person’s death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody. It requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved,” the release explains.

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Law enforcement shot a person armed with a knife in New Jersey. (Kyle Mazza/UNF News/Shutterstock)

 

According to a post on X, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev noted, “We are aware of the horrific crime in Middlesex County tonight. All our members that were involved are being evaluated. Thank you to all who have reached to offer support.”

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Boston, MA

Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape

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Battenfeld: Michelle Wu should demand better security after Boston Medical Center rape


In the middle of Michelle Wu’s orchestrated inaugural celebration, prosecutors described a senseless hospital horror that unfolded at Boston Medical Center – a rape of a partially paralyzed patient allegedly by a mentally ill man allowed to freely roam the hospital’s hallways.

It happened in September in what is supposed to be a safe haven but too often is a dangerous campus. Drug addicts with needles frequently openly camp in front of the hospital, and in early December a security guard suffered serious injuries in a stabbing on the BMC campus. The alleged assailant was finally subdued by other security guards after a struggle.

In the September incident, prosecutors described in court this week how the 55-year-old alleged rapist Barry Howze worked his way under the terrified victim’s bed in the BMC emergency room and sexually assaulted her.

“This assault was brutal and brazen, and occurred in a place where people go for help,” Suffolk County prosecutor Kate Fraiman said. “Due to her partial paralysis, she could not reach her phone, which was under her body at the time.”

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Howze, who reportedly has a history of violent offenses and mental illness, was able to flee the scene but was arrested two days later at the hospital when he tried to obtain a visitor’s pass and was recognized by security. Howze’s attorney blamed hospital staff for allowing him the opportunity to commit the crime and some city councilors are demanding answers.

“This was a horrific and violent sexual assault on a defenseless patient,” Councilor Ed Flynn said. “The safety and security of patients and staff at the hospital can’t be ignored any longer. The hospital leadership must make immediate and major changes and upgrades to their security department.”

Flynn also sent a letter to BMC CEO Alastair Bell questioning how the assailant was allowed to commit the rape.

Where is Wu? She was too busy celebrating herself with a weeklong inaugural of her second term to deal with the rape at the medical center, which is near the center of drug-ravaged Mass and Cass.

If the rape had happened at a suburban hospital, people would be demanding investigations and accountability.

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But in Boston, Wu takes credit for running the “safest major city in the country” while often ignoring crimes.

Wu should intervene and demand better security and safety for the staff and patients at BMC.

Although the hospital is no longer run by the city, it has a historic connection with City Hall. It is used by Boston residents, many of them poor and disabled or from marginalized communities. She should be out front like Flynn demanding accountability from the hospital.

Boston Medical Center, located in the city’s South End, is the largest “safety-net” hospital in New England. It is partially overseen by the Boston Public Health Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor.

BMC was formed in 1996 by the Thomas Menino administration as a merger between the city-owned Boston City Hospital, which first opened in 1864, and Boston University Medical Center.

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Menino called the merger “the most important thing I will do as mayor.”

When he was appointed CEO by the hospital board of trustees in 2023, Bell offered recycled Wu-speak to talk about how BMC was trying to “reshape” how the hospital delivers health care.

“The way we think about the health of our patients and members extends beyond traditional medicine to environmental sustainability and issues such as housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility, as we study the root causes of health inequities and empower all of our patients and communities to thrive,” Bell said.

But the hospital has been plagued by security issues in the last few years, and a contract dispute with the nurses’ union. The nurses at BMC’s Brighton campus authorized a three-day strike late last year over management demands to cut staffing and retirement benefits.

Kirsten Ransom, BMC Brighton RN and Massachusetts Nurses Association co-chair, said, “This vote sends a clear message that our members are united in our commitment to make a stand for our patients, our community and our professional integrity in the wake of this blatant effort to balance BMC’s budget on the backs of those who have the greatest impact on the safety of the patients and the future success of this facility.”

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Pittsburg, PA

Gov. Josh Shapiro launches re-election campaign; speeches planned in Pittsburgh and Philly

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Gov. Josh Shapiro launches re-election campaign; speeches planned in Pittsburgh and Philly






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