Connect with us

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s mandatory life sentence for 2nd-degree murder denies redemption, former inmate says

Published

on

Pennsylvania’s mandatory life sentence for 2nd-degree murder denies redemption, former inmate says


PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — As a young man on the streets of Homewood, Robby Wideman was bound for trouble. At just 24, he got involved in a robbery gone wrong. Things went south when his accomplice shot and killed the victim, and Wideman went to prison for life without the possibility of parole, even though he didn’t pull the trigger.

“I was involved in a man getting killed. I didn’t kill him. Didn’t expect it to happen. I was in that lifestyle. So, I don’t say, ‘oh, I should have never went to prison.’ Yeah, I should went to prison for what I did, but for life?” he said. 

Like more than 1,000 other state inmates serving life for second-degree murder, Wideman was given a future without hope. Opponents call it death by incarceration — a punishment both cruel and unusual and a violation of both the state and U.S. constitutions, denying an inmate any chance of redemption. 

“It discourages a man from trying to change almost. I know you can understand that. In some way it makes sense. Why should I? You tell me I’m never going home,” Wideman said. 

Advertisement

But now the state Supreme Court will hear the case that may change that. This fall, it will take up the sentencing of another local young man involved in a similar robbery gone bad. 

Even though Derek Lee did not pull the trigger in a homicide in the city’s West End ten years ago, he’s serving mandatory life. His attorneys are asking the courts to declare the sentence unconstitutional, allow Lee to be re-sentenced and open the door for others. 

Wideman says not only would the state save about $50,000 a year for housing each inmate, communities would benefit from the re-entry of reformed inmates. 

“If the court overturns second-degree murder and quits putting people in prison who didn’t kill anyone, society is going to win,” Wideman said.

Even though he had no chance at freedom, Wideman did change for the good. In prison, he quit drugs and alcohol, became a counselor to other inmates and earned a degree. His struggle became the subject of the book “Brothers and Keepers” — a memoir by his brother John Edgar Wideman, the nationally renowned Pittsburgh novelist. Finally, after 44 years in prison, then-Gov. Tom Wolf commuted Wideman’s sentence.  

Advertisement

Today, Wideman runs a three-quarter house for former inmates, giving them a place to live, job training and the support they need to re-enter society. Wideman says he is dedicating the rest of his life to using his hard-won experience and wisdom to help others. His hope is that lifers like him will someday get parole and join the others.   

“Trying to help people. For me, that’s what it’s about. That’s what it’s about. I made a promise to the guys that I left behind that I would and I’m trying my best to hold up my word,” he said.

This case is expected to go in front of the state Supreme Court in October, but Gov. Josh Shapiro has already weighed in, filing a surprise brief asking the court to declare these mandatory sentences unconstitutional. 

Advertisement



Source link

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer

Published

on

Pennsylvania man arrested for allegedly feeding pet parakeet marijuana and beer


A Pennsylvania man was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar, according to reports.

Timothy Grace, 40, was busted on Feb. 21 after carrying his wounded pet budgie named “Blue Skies” in his pocket to Callaghan’s Bar in Greensburg, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

Timothy Grace was arrested on animal cruelty charges for allegedly feeding marijuana and beer to his pet parakeet after bringing the injured feathered friend to a bar. WTAE

“The caller’s a bartender. She says there is a white male at the bar with a parakeet,” a dispatcher reported on the police radio transmissions obtained by the outlet.

“The patron was bragging to other people that were inside the bar that he feeds the parakeet marijuana and has it drink beer on a daily basis,” Detective Sergeant Justin Scalzo told the outlet.

Advertisement

Grace “appeared extremely intoxicated” when police showed up to the bar and found the pet bird in distress, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

“Its leg appeared to be broken,” Scalzo said, according to WTAE. “Its foot was actually facing the wrong direction.”

Grave was initially arrested for public intoxication and now faces charges including aggravated cruelty to animals and transporting animals in a cruel manner, the outlet said.

The pet bird was brought to PEARL Parrot Rescue in the Pittsburgh area, which rushed him to an emergency care facility.


Exterior of Callaghan's bar, with a sign showing
The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg. WTAE

Blue Skies spent four days in the hospital and was later taken in to be fostered by Teri Grendzinski, the president of PEARL. The injured parakeet is still breathing hard, remains on antibiotics, and has to wear a splint on his right leg, CBS reported.

“They realized his leg was broken. He also had some respiratory issues going on,” Grendzinski told the outlet. “He was also very, very skinny.”

Advertisement

“The leg was broken badly enough there is a chance they’re going to have to amputate the leg if it doesn’t heal correctly,” she added.

If Blue Skies is eventually put up for adoption, he will require specialized care, the outlet said.

“When we got that call, it was horrifying. Why would you do that to a bird?” Grendzinski said.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Pennsylvania

Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico

Published

on

Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico


A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter’s best friend over a three-year span before fleeing with the teen to Mexico.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Kevin Esterly, 53, of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, was convicted on all counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of children.

Esterly shook his head as the verdict was read but said nothing in the courtroom.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

Advertisement

Esterly’s trial began on Tuesday, March 3, after a judge denied his pretrial motion for the charges against him to be dismissed and for the Lehigh County District Attorney to be removed as a prosecutor in the case.

Both Esterly and his victim testified on Wednesday, March 4.

The victim — who is now 24-years-old — told the courtroom that she met Esterly and his family while attending church as a child and became best friends with one of his daughters. Esterly was a youth leader and elder at the church at the time. The victim said Esterly also coached her soccer team.

The victim said she became so close to Esterly’s family that she called his wife “mom” and eventually spent almost every weekend at their home in Lowhill Township, Pennsylvania. She also said she vacationed with them in New York state and Ocean City, Maryland.

The victim said Esterly first sexually assaulted her in August 2015 when she was 13-years-old after he gave her alcohol during a family birthday party.

Advertisement

“I was scared. Frozen in fear,” the woman told the courtroom on Wednesday. “I pretended I was sleeping.”

The woman accused Esterly of sexually assaulting her almost every time she slept over at his home. She told the courtroom she eventually became addicted to alcohol and drugs, which Esterly gave her in exchange for sex. According to the woman, Esterly gave her cocaine and methamphetamine to keep her awake during school because she “would be up with him all night.”

The woman said Esterly continued to sexually assault her until he was confronted by his wife in 2017. Esterly’s wife then threw him out of the house, according to the victim. She said Esterly continued to sexually assault her over the next year.

Esterly was later arrested and then sentenced to prison after federal agents found him with the victim in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2018. She was 16-years-old at the time.

The woman said she moved on and went to college after Esterly’s sentencing though she still struggled with drug addiction. She said she sought counseling in February 2025. She told the courtroom she received a message from Esterly on LinkedIn that same month in which he apologized for “failing you as a person I was supposed to be for you.” At that point Esterly had been released from prison.

Advertisement

The woman said she had not told anyone about her relationship with Esterly up to that point and replied to him, “I live with our secret every day as I promised. I would appreciate an apology.”

The woman told the courtroom that Esterly responded by writing, “I hope one day you can forgive me. Nobody knows I reached out to you. That is the best for both of us.”

On Feb. 21, 2025, Allentown Police received a report of Esterly’s sexual assaults which led to the new charges being filed against him. He was arrested in West Virginia in June 2025 after two police pursuits. He was then extradited to Pennsylvania.

The victim told the courtroom on Wednesday that she kept quiet about Esterly’s abuse for years because she “was afraid to speak,” and felt “dirty and ashamed.”

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone,” she said. “He was a father figure in my life. I loved him.”

Advertisement

The woman also said she didn’t want to hurt Esterly’s daughter who was her best friend.

When the District Attorney asked her why she was “here today,” she replied by saying, “I want to tell the truth. I want to be set free.”

The woman ended her testimony by saying, “I don’t want to live with this secret anymore.”

After her testimony, Esterly took the stand for 45 minutes, denied all of the accusations against him and accused the woman of lying.

Closing arguments then took place Thursday morning. It then took an hour for the jury of seven women and five men to reach their verdict.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Pennsylvania

3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say

Published

on

3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say



Advertisement

Two women are dead in Pennsylvania and a man is dead in Illinois after an apparent murder-suicide, police said on Wednesday.

According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation began in Hillside, Illinois, when police there were dispatched after a man reported two women dead in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania. Police said that when officers got to Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago, they found that the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After identifying him, troopers said Hillside officers contacted police from Jackson Township to request a welfare check at the man’s home on Dior Drive, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. 

Map shows distance from Hillside, Illinois, to Zelienople, Pennsylvania

Advertisement

KDKA


Police said officers used forced entry to get into the home and found two women dead from apparent gunshot wounds. It’s believed the two women were family members of the man who died by suicide in Illinois, investigators said. 

Pennsylvania State Police said they’ve assumed control of the case and are “actively investigating” what happened surrounding the three deaths.

Police didn’t release any names, saying the process of formal identification and notification of next of kin hasn’t been completed. Sources told KDKA that the victims were a husband, wife and their daughter.

“At this time, investigators believe there is no ongoing threat to the public, and law enforcement is not searching for any additional individuals in connection with this incident,” police wrote in the public information release report. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation.”

Advertisement

State police didn’t release any other details on Wednesday but said more information will be made public when it’s available.  

“My first reaction was shocked because this is such a close-knit neighborhood, and to think something that horrible could happen here is very tragic because they were such a good family,” neighbor Danielle Sporer said on Wednesday. 



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending