Hearing for man accused in fatal shooting at Upper Burrell tavern delayed for 2 months

A preliminary hearing for a man charged with fatally shooting a customer at an Upper Burrell tavern on Nov. 13 has been delayed for two months to give his defense attorney more time to prepare a case.

Daniel J. Moles, 61, of Dogwood Lane, Lower Burrell was scheduled to appear before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec on Tuesday morning.

Moles was charged with criminal homicide in connection with the fatal shooting of Randy Jenereaux, 31, of Vandergrift at Woodpecker’s Pub and Grub on Seventh Street Road.

He has been in the Westmoreland County Prison since his arrest after a judge denied him bond.

Moles was handcuffed and wore arm and ankle shackles as he was escorted into and out of the district judge’s offices by two Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday morning.

The continuation was requested by Moles’ public defender, Greg Cecchetti, so he could have more time to prepare his case, according to the judge.

The hearing has been rescheduled Jan. 25 before Peck Yakopec.

Following Moles’ arrest, Upper Burrell police Chief Kenneth Pate, who filed the criminal homicide charge, said the bar was crowded when Moles brandished a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and opened fire.

One shot hit Jenereaux in the chest, killing him. A second shot missed two men who were fleeing from the bar, according to a criminal complaint.

When officers arrived at the tavern near the Penn State New Kensington campus, they found multiple people restraining Moles on the floor with a handgun nearby, the complaint said.

Investigators said Jenereaux and Moles did not know each other and did not have any interaction at the bar.

A witness told police he saw Moles fire the second shot at the two fleeing men and that he and two other men restrained him and got the weapon out of his hand until police arrived, according to the complaint.

A bartender told investigators Moles was there when she started her shift at 5 p.m. and that she served him two glasses of bourbon between 5 and 9 p.m., the complaint states.

After Jenereaux was shot, his twin brother, Andy , tried to rush him to the hospital.

He made it as far as the 900 block of Third Avenue in New Kensington before his brother lost consciousness. New Kensington Ambulance Service responded and began treating Jenereaux, but he died at the scene, according to the arrest papers.

Moles lives a little more than a mile away from the bar along a private road in Upper Burrell where there are only two other properties. Neighbors declined to comment on Moles or the shooting.

Police did not give a motive or reason in the complaint for why Moles began shooting in the bar.

A search of online court records did not show any previous arrests for Moles. He also does not appear to have active social media accounts.