Aug 22, 2024 By Mike Jones 4 min read

Arthur Guty wants his money back.

The homicide suspect accused of shooting and killing his wife in their Uniontown home in December before driving across the country and staying at a Las Vegas resort asked a judge to return more than $131,000 in cash that was seized in his hotel room following his arrest.

During a hearing Wednesday before Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Mehalov, Guty’s defense attorney, Brian Aston, argued that the cash has no evidentiary value for the investigation into the killing of Franverlys “Nicole” Zambranobriceno and should be released back to his client to help mount a defense.

“There’s clearly no nexus between the $131,000 being proceeds of a crime,” Aston said.

Zambranobriceno, 26, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head and was found in her bed inside the couple’s home at 39 Bierer Ave. in the city on Jan. 1. Investigators do not know when Zambranobriceno died, although the last communication she had with anyone was on Dec. 24. Investigators said Guty left the area after his wife’s death and drove to Maryland before heading to Las Vegas.

Hours after Zambranobriceno’s body was discovered, Uniontown police filed an arrest warrant charging Guty, 56, with homicide, aggravated assault and evidence tampering. He was arrested the following day by Las Vegas Metro police officers while in the dining area of a hotel where he had been staying.

Uniontown police Officer Jamie Holland, who is leading the homicide investigation, testified Wednesday that Las Vegas police found $4,329 in cash in Guty’s possession and another $131,170 in currency lying on the bed in his hotel room. Holland testified that Las Vegas Metro police deposited the $131,170 in cash into a bank in Nevada and then sent a check to the Fayette County District Attorney’s office, where it is being held in a local account. The $4,329 found on Guty was confiscated by the Las Vegas Detention Center upon his booking and also sent to the district attorney here.

Aston asked Holland whether Guty ever attempted to change his appearance, use false identification or change the license plate on his vehicle, all of which the officer said he had no knowledge of happening. Guty also used his real name to check-in at a hotel in Missouri, Aston noted of Holland’s testimony.

The exchange between Holland and Aston became heated at times, with Mehalov asking the officer twice to simply answer the attorney’s questions. Aston then asked Holland if investigators know definitively whether or not Guty ever intended to return to Uniontown.

“He left on a whim and left a dead woman in his bed,” Holland responded, indicating his belief that Guty did not plan to come back to the area.

Fayette County First Administrative Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kelley asked Holland whether he thought the amount of money found in Guty’s possession while in another state indicated that it was part of the overall crime.

“It was used to pay for means to evade the crime scene and evade police,” Holland said. “That money was used to travel across the country.”

“Do you consider this money evidence?” Kelley asked the officer.

“Yes, absolutely,” Holland said. “It was used in furtherance of the crime. … It was, in my eyes, used in continuation of the act.”

Investigators have not said how or when Guty acquired the cash, although they do not think he came about it unlawfully.

But, Kelley said, the amount of money recovered while Guty was on the other side of the country following his wife’s death showed a “perpetual continuation of an unlawful act” and that it indicated a “consciousness of guilt” by the defendant.

Aston said that argument can likely be made at trial, but the cash itself is not considered any part of the alleged crime.

“It’s not like he used it to buy fake IDs, used it to change his appearance or used it to pay cash for his hotel rooms,” Aston said.

He added that there is no evidentiary value at trial since the police and jail deposited the cash in a bank and then wired the money back to Fayette County for the district attorney’s office to hold.

“It’s necessary for the defense so we can have experts (to defend the case),” Aston said.

Guty, who is being held without bond at the Fayette County jail, sat next to his attorney listening to testimony in the courtroom while shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit.

After listening to arguments for about a half-hour, Mehalov told the attorneys he planned to make a ruling by next week about whether the money should be returned to Guty.