Irwin man who can't recall killing girlfriend sent to prison for up to 20 years

An Irwin man who has no memory of killing his girlfriend at a Monroeville hotel three years ago will serve at least 7¹⁄₂ years in state prison.

Matthew Gribschaw, 40, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in November to third-degree murder for killing Rochella Anderson, 49.

On Thursday, Senior Judge Katherine B. Emery ordered him to serve 7¹⁄₂ to 20 years in state prison.

Psychiatric experts for both the prosecution and defense said Gribschaw was mentally ill at the time of the crime, his defense attorney said.

“He has no recollection of it,” attorney Patrick Thomassey said Thursday after the hearing. “He has so much regret, it’s unbelievable.

“He loved this girl.”

The two had been dating about a year and were at the Rodeway Inn on Mosside Boulevard on Jan. 1, 2022, police said. That’s when the manager of the hotel saw blood outside a third-floor room.

Using security footage, the manager tracked the blood to Gribschaw, who had exited the room with blood on his arms and legs.

Anderson’s mutilated body was found under the hotel bed.

He told police that he “made a mistake” and “didn’t like murdering a woman,” but that he did what he had to.

Thomassey told Emery that untreated mental illness is a huge problem in this country that impacts the criminal justice system.

Gribschaw has remorse for his actions, he told the judge.

“It defies logic why we’re here,” Emery said, noting there’s no explanation for why Anderson was killed. “I’m satisfied you’re truly remorseful.”

The judge urged Gribschaw to use the rest of his life to show both his and Anderson’s families how sorry he is.

“It’s all up to you now,” Emery said. “Even though you carry the burden of this memory every day, you have to take that burden and put it to good use.”

Emery, a senior judge from Washington County Common Pleas Court, is hearing cases in Allegheny County to fill recent vacancies on the bench.