Maryland man sentenced for stabbing death on Montour Trail
A man accused of stabbing an off-duty state police liquor enforcement officer to death on the Montour Trail last year was sentenced Tuesday morning to 15 to 40 years in prison.
According to online court records, Anthony Quesen pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder of the third degree in August. Quesen, 26, of Baltimore, was ordered by the court to have no contact with the victim’s family.
The afternoon of Oct. 21, 2024, Quesen stabbed 44-year-old Benjamin Brallier on the Montour Trail in Moon Township, Allegheny County.
Allegheny County police filed a charge of criminal homicide after investigators discovered Quesen that evening at the entrance to Montour Woods Conservation Area, not far from where he stabbed Brailler.
At the time, State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris commended Brailler as a “dedicated” liquor enforcement officer.
“With over 20 years of service, he was an exemplary officer and a devoted father and husband,” Paris said in an emailed statement last year.
Online court records indicate that Quesen appeared at the Allegheny County Courthouse Tuesday morning before Judge Edward J. Borkowski for his sentencing.
Quesen has been incarcerated in the Allegheny County jail since his arrest.