by peter e. bortner
Daniel S. Petrichko must remain in prison for the rest of his life for murdering his uncle in 1996 in North Union Township, a Schuylkill County judge ruled Thursday.
In a four-page opinion and order, Judge John E. Domalakes ruled that changes in sentencing laws do not apply to Petrichko because he was not a minor when he committed his crimes, and that he is not entitled to any benefits from those changes.
"Defendant's arguments have no support in the current state of the law," Domalakes wrote.
As a result, Petrichko, 36, will remain at State Correctional Institution/Mahanoy, where he is serving his life sentence for first-degree murder in connection with the death of Dale Nelson.
Petrichko pleaded guilty on July 16, 1997, to criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy.
After a three-day degree-of-guilt hearing, Domalakes found Petrichko guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him on Aug. 21, 1997, to life in prison, which in Pennsylvania carries no possibility of parole.
State police at Frackville charged that on Sept. 8, 1996, Petrichko and co-defendant James S. Pavlichko with shooting and beating Nelson in a cornfield, duct-taping his mouth shut, folding his body, putting it in a toolbox and dumping it near Jeansville, Luzerne County.
Domalakes also found Pavlichko guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison on Aug. 28, 1997. Pavlichko, 44, is serving his sentence at SCI/Waymart in Wayne County.
Petrichko claimed that recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions to abolish mandatory life sentences for juveniles should apply to him because he was only 20 when he murdered Nelson. The Supreme Court's decisions were based on sociological theories that apply equally to him as to juveniles, according to Petrichko.
Domalakes rejected his claim, ruling that Petrichko was an adult, not a juvenile, when he committed his crimes and should not benefit from the Supreme Court's rulings.
"The ... rulings specifically addressed mandatory live sentences for juveniles and did not extend the ruling to adults of any age," Domalakes wrote.
