A 28-year-old man is on trial this week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in connection with the 2016 beating death of a 74-year-old man in McKees Rocks.
Branden Anthony Frazier is accused of killing Benito Nicoletti, whose body was found June 1, 2016, on a couch in his Vine Street home where he lived alone.
A criminal complaint filed in the case said police found Nicoletti’s car outside Frazier’s residence in Stowe and a backpack containing bloody jeans was found in the residence.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. initially said he would seek the death penalty, but unspecified “intervening events” caused the withdrawal of that notice.
Testimony started Thursday in a jury trial before Judge Kevin Sasinoski.
