Franklin Stumhofer Jr., who is serving time in a state correctional institution for murdering his father in September 2011 in West Penn Township, will remain behind bars after deciding to end his appeal of his conviction and sentence.
In a one-page document filed Tuesday in Pottsville, Robert J. Kirwan II, Reading, Stumhofer's lawyer, withdrew his client's appeal of the sentence imposed Aug. 17 by President Judge William E. Baldwin. The document conained no reason why the appeal was withdrawn.
As a result, Stumhofer, 40, of Molino, will spend 16 3/4 years to 33 1/2 years in a state correctional institution for killing Franklin Stumhofer Sr., 61, on Sept. 7, 2011. The younger Stumhofer is serving his sentence at SCI/Frackville.
At the end of a three-day trial presided over by Baldwin, a jury convicted the younger Stumhofer on Aug. 9 of third-degree murder, four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and simple assault and five counts of recklessly endangering another person, while acquitting him of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Stumhofer went to his father's 6 Log Lane home about 1:30 p.m. and shot him after they argued about money.
After shooting his father, the younger Stumhofer drove his black Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle to Windsor Township, Berks County, just outside Hamburg, where he encountered three family members in a pickup truck about 2:10 p.m., police said.
Stumhofer fired three bullets into the pickup truck, which was driven by his brother-in-law, Larry Miller, 42, of Hamburg, police said. The bullets damaged the truck but did not injure Miller or the truck's other two occupants, brother-in-law Samuel Stumhofer, 35, of Temple, and Blain Schneck, 19, according to police.Defendant: Franklin Stumhofer Jr.
Age: 40
Residence: Molino
Crimes committed: Third-degree murder, four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and simple assault and five counts of recklessly endangering another person
Prison sentence: 16 3/4 years to 33 1/2 years in a state correctional institution