Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 82
Westmoreland commissioner expresses confidence in election office as director’s suspension continues
The Westmoreland County commissioners said Thursday the staff issues that have plagued the county election bureau this week has not impacted the department’s ability to operate. The commissioners following their June public meeting did not acknowledge the paid suspension of Election Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani but indicated they are working...
Jury deliberations to continue in Greensburg man’s murder trial
A jury will resume deliberations Thursday morning in the trial of a Greensburg man charged with the murder of a Vandergrift woman whose charred remains were found at a secluded Derry Township campsite four years ago. Jurors deliberated about four hours Wednesday and did not reach a verdict in the...
Rookie Westmoreland County election director suspended with pay
The Westmoreland County commissioners suspended with pay the woman they hired less than a year ago to run the county election bureau. Records obtained Wednesday by the Tribune-Review indicate bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani was suspended Tuesday and will continue to be off the job through Friday. No reason was given...
Walter Cable testifies he had no role in Vandergrift woman’s murder
Walter Cable told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday he and another man dropped Ronny Cable off about a block from her front door about midnight Feb. 17, 2017, and never heard from her again. Cable, 28, of Greensburg testified during the sixth day of his murder trial that he had...
Bathroom hidden camera earns North Huntingdon man jail term
A North Huntingdon man will serve up to 23 months in jail for recording video of female co-workers in the bathroom of a business where they worked and eavesdropping on conversations another had with a supervisor. Nicholas Traill, 35, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of burglary, invasion of privacy, possession...
Police say video refutes Greensburg man’s alibi in woman’s murder
The man prosecutors contend killed a Vandergrift woman and burned her remains four years ago claimed he was at home and asleep when she died, a detective testified Monday. Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka said Walter Cable admitted he was with 34-year-old Ronny Cable the night she disappeared but that...
Computer glitch excludes Westmoreland write-in winners; other results certified
Results from 14 Westmoreland County primaries were amended Monday to include additional winners after a weekend review of write-in votes identified discrepancies in how final totals were reported. “Out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to review them,” said Election Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani. Election officials said no additional...
Hot housing market a boon for sellers in Westmoreland, Pittsburgh region
Record-low inventories of homes for sale in Western Pennsylvania have resulted in historically high sale prices as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the local housing market. Real estate experts said the seller’s market for existing homes in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties is likely to continue into next year, a...
Scottdale man sentenced to prison for role in robbery, shooting of Derry drug dealer
A Scottdale man was sentenced Friday to serve up to five years in prison for his role in the shooting and robbery of a Derry drug dealer last year. Brandon Eugene “Lil-Drizzy” Thomas, pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery and conspiracy. Westmoreland County prosecutors agreed to dismiss attempted homicide,...
Southmoreland school official challenges primary results, claims county ballot error
Editor’s note: This story was amended on June 7, 2021, to correct the name of Southmoreland school board candidate Candice Raymond. A Southmoreland School Board member on Friday challenged the results of last month’s primary, claiming the Westmoreland County Election Bureau failed to include an open two-year seat on the...
Forensic anthropologist says Vandergrift woman’s remains burned for up to 10 hours
A forensic anthropologist testified Friday the body of a Vandergrift woman discovered in remote Derry Township in 2017 was likely burned in a fire for up to 10 hours. Dennis Dirkmaat, a professor at Mercyhurst University in Erie, told a Westmoreland County jury hundreds of small bone fragments along with...
Recovery trumps jail for former Greensburg man in fatal overdose caseVideo
An Indiana County man’s recovery from drug addiction won praise from a Westmoreland judge who sentenced him Friday to serve seven years on probation for his role in his girlfriend’s overdose death in her Greensburg apartment two years ago. In rejecting a recommended sentence of up to 13 years in...
Scalp, bone fragments among evidence presented in Greensburg man’s homicide trial
Investigators found what appeared to be part of a human scalp, bone fragments, charred jewelry and clothing in a pile of ash at a secluded Derry Township camp site identified by a witness as the location where Ronny Cable was killed and her remains burned in February 2017, police detectives...
Westmoreland primary results receive preliminary certification
Westmoreland County’s Elections Board on Wednesday voted to pre-certify results of the 2021 primary. That vote opens a five-day window to challenge in court the results in which Republicans and Democrats were nominated to run for county row office jobs as well as magisterial district judge positions, seats on municipal...
Co-defendant says he watched Vandergrift woman’s murder and helped burn her remains
An Export man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday that, just a day after Ronny Cable said she had feelings for him, he watched another man beat her over the head with a hammer and choke her to death. He said he then spent the next 12 hours helping to...
Jeannette man pleads guilty sex assault charges
A Jeannette man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to what police said was the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in Hempfield. Westmoreland County prosecutors contended Steven Alan Deluke, 42, had sexual contact with the teen following a night of heavy alcohol consumption in August 2018. In court on...
Jury seated for Greensburg man’s murder trial, opening statements to begin Wednesday
Opening statements will begin Wednesday in the murder trial of a Greensburg man accused of fatally beating a woman whose burned remains were found four years ago in a Derry Township wooded area, a month after police said she was killed. Walter Cable, 28, was charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy,...
Westmoreland jail free of coronavirus for 1st time since March
Westmoreland County prison officials said Tuesday, for the first time since early March, there are no active coronavirus cases among inmates and staff at the jail. “It has been challenging,” Warden Bryan Kline said about the last three months in which more than 100 inmates were infected with the virus...
Westmoreland Controller’s Office honored for financial reports
The Westmoreland County Controller’s office was honored for production of its most recent report on county finances, a document completed by quarantining staffers who were required to work from home during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The Government Finance Officers Association issued a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence...
Westmoreland primary voter turnout tops 31%
More than 76,000 ballots were cast in Westmoreland County during this month’s primary as voter turnout topped more than 31%, a figure substantially surpassing totals from four years ago. According to figures released Friday by the county election bureau, 35% of registered Republicans and 31% of Democrats cast ballots earlier...
Sexual assault charge against Greensburg man dismissed following mistrial
A pending sexual assault charge filed against a Greensburg man — who in February was found not guilty of the rape of an unconscious woman — was dismissed Thursday. Following a three-day trial, jurors acquitted Emmanuel Lebbie, 25, of Greensburg of the felony rape count but deadlocked and failed to...
Westmoreland senior centers to reopen June 1
Westmoreland County announced Thursday it will reopen 13 senior citizen centers June 1, more than 14 months after they were shuttered at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The centers, scattered throughout the county, served as a gathering spot for as many as 3,500 seniors for education, socialization and meals...
Westmoreland courthouse bomb threat nets probation sentence
A South Huntingdon man will serve one month on probation for a threat police said he made late last year to bomb the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Micheal W. Stephens, 58, was charged Dec. 30 with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct in connection with an incident in front...
Former Pagans leader Katona granted 1 month delay to report to county prison
The former national leader of the Pagans motorcycle club will have an additional period of freedom before he must report to the Westmoreland County Prison to serve out the remaining months of his sentence on prior drug offenses. Dennis “Rooster” Katona, 54, of Hempfield was expected to turn himself in...
Defense attorney says prosecution inaction warrants dismissal of Unity man’s criminal charges
The lawyer for a Unity man police said is linked to the 2018 disappearance of his former girlfriend said inaction by Westmoreland County prosecutors violated the state’s speedy trial rules. As a result, he wants a judge to dismiss three pending criminal cases. Defense attorney Dante Bertani in court documents...
