WILLIAMSPORT - Former Shamokin resident Kevin Marinelli, who was sentenced to death for murdering Conrad Dumchock in his Kulpmont home April 26, 1994, has asked a federal judge to consider amending judgment in his case now that a witness at his trial claims he lied about the defendant telling him information about the robbery and homicide.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani granted Marinelli's supplement motion to alter and amend judgment now that he is close to exhausting his state appeals while he remains on death row.
The 40-year-old Marinelli is the petitioner in the case, while Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Jeffrey Beard, SCI-Rockview Superintendent Franklin J. Tennis and SCI-Greene Superintendent Louis B. Folino are the defendants.
In December, Marinelli filed papers in U.S. Middle District Court asking the court to amend or alter a Nov. 26 decision that denied his motion to vacate the punishment he received in 1995.
He was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder in Dumchock's shooting death.
Marinelli's death warrant was signed in 1997 by then-Gov. Ed Rendell, but his execution was stayed by a federal judge on the filing of the habeas corpus petition that was denied Nov. 26.
Marinelli is currently an inmate at SCI-Green.
Two co-conspirators also are serving time for the murder.
Mark Marinelli, formerly of Shamokin, an inmate at SCI-Albion, testified against his brother and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Thomas Kirchoff, formerly of Coal Township, who is incarcerated at SCI-Somerset, was found guilty by jury of second-degree murder.
Both are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
The supplement motion is based on a claim by Nathan Reigle, who was 17 at the time of Dumchock's death, that he lied during Marinelli's 1995 murder trial. Reigle was a friend of the Marinelli brothers.
In the motion, Reigle states, "My testimony at Kevin's trial in 1995 about Conrad's murder was not true. Everything I said about what Kevin supposedly told me about the robbery and murder of Conrad Dumchock was provided to me by the prosecutor and police. Kevin never said anything to me about what happened at Conrad Dumchock's house that night. The only thing he ever said to me about this case was one time when he was drunk and crying and rambling on, he said his brother held a gun to his head and was going to kill him if he didn't do what he told him. He never said anything about Conrad's murder. But the police and Mr. Sacavage (then-District Attorney Robert Sacavage) basically told me everything that was in my statement."
Reigle claimed he was denied an attorney when questioned by Sacavage, then-Assistant District Attorney Tony Rosini and police, and was really scared because he was just a kid.
In addition to all the details of the murder, Reigle claims in the motion that Sacavage wanted him to say the crime was a hate crime based on Dumchock's religion. "That was the one thing I refused to do because at the time, I was still a member of the Skinheads and was loyal to them," he said. "This crime had nothing to do with that."
Reigle said he also lied at trial when he was asked whether he made any deals in exchange for his testimony. "The only reason I testified was to avoid getting charged with conspiracy and several other crimes. I was scared I might end up having to do life in prison myself, even though I didn't have anything to do with this and knew nothing about it," he said.
The witness said the district attorney did not want him to testify for Marinelli at a post-conviction hearing and told him he would be charged with perjury and contempt of court if he did, which could result in another five-year sentence.
"The district attorney told me that when I got on the stand, the only thing I should testify about was that I bought a .25-caliber Raven pistol from Kevin," Reigle said. "But after I took the Fifth Amendment, I didn't testify about anything and the judge let me leave the witness stand."
Reigle said, "While Kevin never said anything to me about Conrad's murder, Tom Kirchoff did. After Kevin and Mark got picked up, Tom told me what happened that night. Tom said that he (Kirchoff) just 'went berserk' and 'lost it,' and started beating Conrad.
"Tom told me that Kevin actually pulled him off Conrad and made him stop hitting him, but as soon as Kevin walked away, Tom went back again and hit him some more. Tom also told me that that's when he thought he killed him. Tom also told me that he saw Mark put the gun to Kevin's head and force him to shoot Conrad. This makes sense to me because Kevin seemed intimidated by his older brother, Mark, and Mark often manipulated Kevin into doing things. I think Kevin was really upset about what Mark made him to."
Reigle said nobody promised him anything or threatened him to come forward with his claim that he lied at the trial, which was presided over by Judge Samuel Ranck.
"I'm coming forward now because I've finally maxed out my sentence and have cleaned up my life," he said. "Mr. Sacavage and the police no longer have anything to hold over my head, and it's not right that someone is facing the death penalty based on something that's not true."
Sacavage, who is now a Northumberland County judge, refuted Reigle's claims and accusations when contacted late Thursday afternoon.