Judge accused of bias in Greensburg woman's appeal of sentence for 2010 torture slaying

The former Greensburg woman who was the first person convicted in the 2010 torture murder of a mentally disabled woman contends a Westmoreland County judge abused her discretion late last month when she imposed a prison sentence of 60 years to life.

In an appeal filed Friday, Angela Marinucci, 29, demanded a new sentence. She contends Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Rita Hathaway ignored evidence that Marinucci had matured during the 12 years she has served in prison since her arrest for her role in the stabbing death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty of Mt. Pleasant.

Hathaway imposed the sentence May 31.

The defense claims the judge also discounted evidence from a psychologist who testified Marinucci’s ongoing mental health issues have improved over the past several years and did not consider letters of support submitted by the defense at the hearing.

“Additionally, this court exhibit(ed) bias in its recitation of the rationale for imposing the sentence as the court repeatedly focused on the nature of the offense and how it personally affected the court, even positing that was akin to PTSD,” according to the appeal filed by defense attorney Michael DeMatt.

During the sentencing hearing, Hath­away recounted the evidence presented at trial to convict Marinucci of first-degree murder in 2011 and in subsequent trials and court appearances of her five co-defendants, who were all convicted in connection with Daugherty’s murder.

As she imposed the new sentence, Hathaway noted she suffered nightmares as a result of the case and said it affected her like no other during her more than two decades as a judge.

Marinucci was twice sentenced by Hathaway to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole, but both penalties were ruled unconstitutional by appeal courts because Marinucci was a juvenile a few months shy of her 18th birthday at the time of her arrest.

Her new sentence calls for her to serve a sentence of 40 years to life for first-degree murder and a consecutive prison term of 20 to 40 years for conspiracy. Marinucci was given credit for the 12 years she has served since her arrest in 2010. She will be eligible for parole in 2070, at the age of 78.

Marinucci was the youngest member of the group of six Greensburg roommates who prosecutors said lured Daugherty to Greensburg.

Daugherty was held captive for more than two days, during which time she was beaten by the group with a towel rack, was forced to take prescription medications, was fed concoctions of cleaning chemicals, spices, human feces and urine, was raped and was bound with Christmas lights and garland before she was stabbed in the heart.

Daugherty’s body was stuffed into a plastic trash can and left under a truck parked in a snow-covered parking lot at a Greensburg school.