Appeals court upholds murder conviction in Latrobe Good Samaritan killing

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the victim, who was Dan McNerny.

A Pennsylvania appeals court upheld the third-degree murder conviction of a Latrobe man serving up to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder of a Good Samaritan who was killed as he attempted to intervene in the robbery of a drug dealer.

A three-judge panel of the state’s Superior Court ruled this week that evidence presented during the 2019 murder trial of Colin Gearhart, 22, was sufficient to support the conviction.

Gearhart and two others were convicted of murder for the Jan. 20, 2016, killing of Dan McNerny, 20, who police said jumped between a masked gunman and a drug dealer during the plot to steal cash and drugs. Prosecutors contended Gearhart participated in the planning of the robbery outside his Latrobe home and withheld help from McNerny following the fatal shooting.

In his appeal, Gearhart argued that prosecutors did not prove his guilt.

In a 36-page opinion, Superior Court judges said prosecutors presented enough evidence to convince jurors that Gearhart was an active participant in the plot and that trial court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio properly ruled when she denied defense lawyers an opportunity to question witnesses about statements made by co-defendants. The appeals court also affirmed Bilik-DeFazio’s ruling in which the judge rejected defense arguments to bar from evidence Gearhart’s confession to police.

Witnesses said McNerny identified Zachary McGrath of Latrobe as the robber and was shot as a scuffle over the gun ensued.

McNerny was not part of the robbery plot nor its intended victim.

Prosecutors said Gearhart lured the would-be robbery victim to his home and, after the shooting, declined to promptly call for medical assistance for McNerny. Instead, Gearhart and others in the home worked to remove all drug evidence from the scene as McNerny lay bleeding from his two gunshot wounds.

Gearhart is serving a 10- to 20-year prison sentence.

Zachary McGrath, 25, of Latrobe, and Austin Krinock, 22, of Johnstown, were convicted of second-degree murder.

McGrath, who police said was the masked gunman, is serving a life sentence. Krinock, the man police said obtained the murder weapon and helped conceive the plot as retribution for a verbal slight, is serving a sentence of 34 years to life.