Killer of gay man seeks reconsideration of death sentence

Richard Laird (left) and Frank R. Chester (right).

Attorneys for Richard R. Laird last week asked a federal judge to reconsider his decision not to vacate Laird’s death sentence for killing Anthony V. Milano

Milano, an openly gay artist, was brutally murdered by Laird and Frank R. Chester in 1987.

A Bucks County jury in 1988 sentenced both men to death. But Chester’s death sentence recently was vacated, after Chester pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and agreed to remain incarcerated for the rest of his life.

In 2007, due to a favorable ruling from U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois, Laird had a retrial in Doylestown, but was resentenced to death. Laird claims his retrial was unfair, and once again wants DuBois to vacate his death sentence.

In a lengthy ruling issued in August, DuBois declined to vacate the sentence.

In an 18-page brief filed Sept. 16, Laird emphasized that at least four of his claims pertaining to ineffective assistance of counsel have merit.

For example, Laird claimed his retrial attorneys should have sought a change of venue because jurors in his retrial read newspaper articles about his 2008 death sentence. 

“[DuBois] unduly minimized the prejudice from the jurors’ knowledge of an earlier death sentence,” Laird’s pleading states.

Laird also claimed his retrial attorneys failed to emphasize his organic brain damage to jurors, which might have convinced them not to resentence him to death.

According to Laird’s pleading, his organic brain damage and other mental-health challenges prevented him from forming a specific intent to kill Milano.

Laird’s pleading also stated that authorities shouldn’t have allowed Chester to be in the courtroom during Laird’s 2007 retrial, noting that Chester didn’t provide any testimony.

Lastly, Laird’s pleading contended that he was subjected to “double jeopardy” during his 2007 retrial because he already had a third-degree murder conviction stemming from Milano’s death going into the retrial, yet was tried for third-degree murder once again.

Such “double jeopardy” is impermissible under the U.S. Constitution, according to Laird’s pleading.

As of presstime, DuBois hadn’t ruled on Laird’s request for reconsideration.

Laird, 53, remains on death row at a state prison in Waynesburg. 

Chester, 47, remains incarcerated in the general-prison population at a state prison in Graterford. 

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