ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) - As a jury deliberated his fate, a Pennsylvania man pleaded no contest to homicide and other charges in the murder of a woman more than a decade and a half ago.
Paul Aaron Ross, 48, entered the plea Tuesday in Blair County Court to third-degree homicide, aggravated assault, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and unlawful restraint. In a no-contest plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict.
Ross faces 42 to 84 years in prison, with credit for time served, in the killing of 26-year-old Tina Miller, whose body was found partially submerged and bound with duct tape at Canoe Creek State Park in June 2004.
Ross was convicted in his first trial and sentenced to life in prison, but an appeals court in 2011 ordered a retrial, saying that his attorney hadn’t had enough time to fully prepare a defense and that testimony by three ex-girlfriends was inappropriate.
Defense attorney Thomas Dickey said he believed the plea agreement was “good for everybody.”
“Number one, my client obviously avoids possibly being faced with the death penalty,” he told WTAJ-TV. “He also avoids being faced with a life imprisonment without parole. And probably most importantly is it brings some finality to the victim’s family.”
Jurors got the retrial case Monday and deliberated for almost nine hours before going home for the night.
The lead prosecutor, retired district attorney Richard Consiglio, told the panel that the victim’s soul “has cried out nearly 17 years for justice and now you have a chance to give it to her.”
Defense attorney Thomas Dickey argued that prosecutors had failed to prove that his client was responsible and suggested that, based on the number of footprints found in the area, more than one person might have been involved.
He also reminded the jury that the victim had a black belt in karate. Consiglio offered a theory in response.
“I suspect the karate expert was overcome when she was smacked on the head three times,” Consiglio said. “That at the least dazed her and that’s how he got the duct tape on her.”
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