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DA wants death penalty for Guarino
Staff writer
ttjohnso@observer-reporter.com
Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani will seek the death penalty against Orlando Maurice Guarino, charged with killing his estranged wife and the couple's two young children in July.
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Security was tight in the courtroom of Washington County President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca. In addition to passing through the main courthouse door metal detector, those entering the courtroom were scanned by another sheriff's deputy.
Several of Ashley Guarino's family sat in the front row. They did not comment but glared at Guarino when the proceeding ended and he was led from the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs.
On behalf of his client, Brian Gorman, assistant public defender, entered pleas of not guilty to the three homicide counts.
After the formal arraignment, Toprani said his office and state police are continuing to investigate whether additional charges will be filed.
As O'Dell Seneca spoke to Guarino, he gazed out the windows, glancing only occasionally in the judge's direction. He did not speak.
Guarino is accused of killing his estranged wife and their son and daughter in their Marianna home July 9. The couple were in the process of divorcing, and she had obtained a protection-from-abuse order against him.
That PFA is listed as one of the aggravating circumstances for which the district attorney will seek the death penalty.
Ashley Guarino moved from the family home to an apartment in North Franklin Township. She returned to the Marianna house the day of the killings for unknown reasons.
The coroner ruled that the three died of asphyxiation.
Guarino's van was found parked near Lew Hays Pony League Field in Washington Park, and the day after the homicides, following a tip, police surrounded the Avalon Motor Inn in Dunningsville off Interstate 70 in Somerset Township. He was not inside.
Later that day, Guarino was captured off West Chestnut Street in Washington.
He remains in Washington County Jail without bond.
Toprani said it is difficult to say when the trial will begin.
Currently, there are several homicide cases waiting for trial with the Guarino case the most recent to be filed, Toprani said.
This is one of three current cases for which the district attorney is seeking the death penalty. The others are Gerald Louis Szakal Jr., charged in the March 4 deaths of former Carroll Township police Chief Howard Springer and his wife, Nancy, in their township home, and Eugene Nagy, in the Sept. 11 deaths of Vince Trotta and Yvonne Helton in Donora.
Be A Man : 9/5/2008
Why not plead guilty for what you did to ashley and her babys. At least try to do that right for your kids they derserve you getting the death pentaly you should not be even breathing right now. As for your child still alive set an example that if you do a crime you must get the time.
Death Does Nothing : 9/5/2008
Giving Orlando death will do absolutely nothing. It will not bring back Ashley, Dreux or Orlando, Jr. It will not stop the pain and anger that Ashley's family feels. Death does nothing. If you feel so adamantly about him suffering, then life is what he needs and deserves. Life will make him think about what he did everyday, not only to Ashley and the children, but what he has done to his own family members, including his other child. His other child does not deserve to experience this kind of pain again by losing a father too. The easy way out is death, the hard way is to live with what you did until you close your eyes for good. Spending the rest of his life in prison will set an example for his other child, who happens to be a teenager and who realizes that when you commit a crime you must be punished. That child is not a moron for your information.
Give him death : 9/5/2008
I dont think that tax payers should waste their money on a muderer...for him to just sit in a cell and "think about what he did"!! He knows what he did and now he knows that he has to pay for it!! I think death row needs an express lane and he needs to be first in line!!!
Death : 9/5/2008
With the sentance of death. You get the best of both worlds. 23 hours of lock down & Him thinking about what he did everyday. Because lets face it. No one has died on death row in decades.
Dont give him death let the other inmates kill him : 9/5/2008
i honestly thing that we should waste tax payers money for him to sit their and rot, i think that should put him in a room full of people that loved and knew ashley and them babies, and let them beat the crap out of him like he deserves he deserves to suffer like they did , as far as im concerned i hope he dose get the death pentalty
Death Penalty : 9/5/2008
The death penalty will do nothing? It will eliminate the possibility of him ever killing again, including committing murder in prison. He is young, and no one knows what the future will bring, he could be paroled. There is no reason for society to spend the money to keep him alive. Kudos for DA Toprani for seeking the death penalty.
DA wants death penalty for guarino : 9/6/2008
I honestly feel he should sit in prison and get the crap beat out of him on a daily basis for a few months then maybe he might get to feel some remorce frokm what he did, the death penalty wont solve anyones problems , it will let him off from what he did.
: 9/6/2008
I agree That he should be tried and sentenced to death! You sit on death row for years anyway and he will have time to think about his actions and also about whats comming to him.
: 10/1/2008
First of all, im a family friend and the death penalty is what im hoping for, the day orlando jr was born i was the first one out side of his mother and father to hold him, i loved those kids and ashley so much. He needs to pay for what he did.
He Needs to PAY : 2/26/2009
He deserves the death penalty. Those babies and Ashley didnt deserve to die at a young age. He doesnt deserve to live. I wish i could be there when GOD asks him why he did what he did. Someone who has the nerve to kill their own children and wife deserves to get the death penalty!!
When?! : 6/10/2009
Its been almost a year now since that murderer took our precious Ashley Dreux and Orlando Jr....when we going to get this show on the road and finish what he started!! Lets get it started already!! Death Penalty!!
