Fayette County convicted of murdering woman in 2020
A North Union Township man was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a woman at her home more than four years ago.
The Fayette County jury took a little more than five hours to find Joseph Michael Thomas Jr. guilty of killing 28-year-old Meghan Masi by shooting her twice in the head inside her North Union home on Nov. 20, 2020.
Thomas, 39, faces automatic life in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 13 by Judge Mark Mahalov, who presided over the four-day trial at the Fayette County Courthouse that culminated with Thursday night’s verdict.
“It’s been over four years since it happened,” District Attorney Michael Aubele said Friday. “There were a lot of different things that happened in between.”
A previous trial in January ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to come to a verdict, Aubele said, further lengthening the Masi’s family’s quest for justice.
“We’re happy we finally have closure for the family,” said Aubele, who prosecuted the case. “They have been very patient for what has been a very long process. A lot of delays, but there was overwhelming evidence that pointed to Mr. Thomas being the suspect.”
Among that evidence was Thomas telling a witness that he had shot Masi, along with his DNA being found inside her vehicle and extensive cellphone data connecting the killer to his victim. Aubele said that after Thomas killed Masi, he drove her vehicle and parked it less than a mile from his house before he walked home.
Aubele said they are still unsure what the motive for the killing was, but Thomas apparently made unfounded claims about Masi in the past.
“We’re still not clear of the actual motive here,”he said. “But we’re very clear that he was the last person to see her alive, there was (his) DNA evidence on her vehicle, items in his home, and he categorically denied being at her house, which was proven false.”
Masi was found dead, lying in a pool of her own blood inside her home at 435 Yauger Hollow Road on Nov. 21, 2020.
Aubele thanked state police troopers for the “countless hours” investigators spent collecting evidence and reviewing cell phone data.
Thomas has been held without bond at the Fayette County jail since his arrest three days after the murder. His defense attorney, Brent Peck, could not be reached for comment Friday to discuss the verdict.