Death penalty not sought in rendering plant slaying
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Prosecutors say they won’t seek the death penalty if a man is convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a co-worker during an argument at a suburban Philadelphia meat rendering plant.
Thirty-two-year-old Peter Atem of Lansdale is charged in Montgomery County in the Feb. 18 slaying of 25-year-old Danny Vazquez at the MOPAC plant in Franconia Township.
The (Norristown) Times Herald (http://bit.ly/1KuaXjp ) reports that Assistant District Attorney Alec O’Neill announced the decision during formal arraignment of the defendant Wednesday..
Authorities said the stabbing occurred the day after the victim yanked a chair out from under the defendant as a prank. Police say they later found Atem in a shed with self-inflicted stab wounds with a note saying “See you in hell. Life for life.”