Cecil man gets prison in grow-house shooting
A Cecil Township man was sentenced to two to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and manufacture of a controlled substance stemming from the fatal shooting of a Washington man last year.
David W. Murray, 54, pleaded guilty Monday before Washington County Judge Michael J. Lucas in a deal between prosecutors and Gary Graminski, Murray’s attorney.
Cecil police said Murray shot Nathaniel K. Gardner, 52, with a .38-caliber handgun in the kitchen of Murray’s home on Adams Street. Police said Murray told them he was watching TV on the night of Nov. 25, 2016, when he heard pounding on a door. Murray said he retrieved the gun from a bedroom and rushed at Gardner, who was unarmed, when the intruder kicked in the door. Police said Murray shot Gardner once in the chest.
Murray told police the incident mirrored another that occurred the previous month when a man he later was able to identify as Gardner forced his way into Murray’s home, stole an ounce of marijuana and assaulted him.
State police said they confiscated 16 marijuana plants and suspected drug paraphernalia from the Murray residence.
Public Defender Glenn Alterio, who previously represented Murray, unsuccessfully attempted to have the homicide charge against his client dismissed under the state Castle Doctrine.
Alterio asserted in a pretrial motion that the prosecution failed to show during a preliminary hearing that Murray wasn’t acting in self-defense under the Castle Doctrine, which shields from prosecution those who use deadly force against intruders in their homes.
Lucas disagreed, leaving that question up to a jury, had the case gone to trial.
“Putting aside the issue of whether the commonwealth must disprove an affirmative defense pretrial, the transcript of Mr. Murray’s preliminary hearing contained sufficient evidence that, if believed, would negate the Castle Doctrine presumptions in this case,” the judge wrote in an Aug. 9 ruling.
Deputy District Attorney Jason Walsh said Tuesday the presumption of the Castle Doctrine wouldn’t apply in Murray’s case “because he was engaged in criminal activity.”
Lucas imposed a one-to-three-year term for the involuntary manslaughter charge, plus one to two years for the drug charge. The sentences are to be served consecutively.
The judge also sentenced Murray to six to 12 months in a 2015 drug case – in which Murray’s previous 12-month sentence of probation was revoked.
Murray rejected a sentence of the same length during another appearance before Lucas about a month earlier, when Murray said he wanted a jury trial and balked at the amount of restitution he could have to pay to cover Gardner’s funeral.
The sentence imposed this week includes $6,500 in restitution to Nation Funeral Home Inc.
Alterio withdrew from the case late last month, and the judge appointed Graminski to replace him.