Couple continues to support daughter, grandsons 25 years after fatal Jeannette arson

For Warren and Pat Lupson, there was no question they would appear in a Greensburg courtroom for yet another appeal by the man serving three consecutive life sentences for murdering their daughter and two young grandsons in Jeannette.

The Lupsons, as they did in 1995 for the trial and again in 2017 for an appeal hearing, made the drive from Maryland to watch court proceedings against now-52-year-old James Young, who was convicted of setting the deadly fire to the home he shared with his wife, Gina Marie, 26, stepson Shaun Holden, 3, and their 7-month-old baby, Joshua.

“It’s been a long time, but we’re here representing my daughter and my two grandsons because they’re not here,” Warren Lupson said.

Young, an inmate at SCI-Fayette, was not in court for Tuesday’s hearing.

His lawyers from the Pennsylvania Innocence Project contend that, in the decades since the trial, there have been changes with the science used to determine causes of fires.

Defense attorney Elizabeth DeLosa said guidelines set by the National Fire Protection Agency were substantially revised since 2001, when Young filed his last unsuccessful appeal without the help of a lawyer. Those changes saw guidelines expanded from a 100-page document to 400 pages, she said.

DeLosa said prison officials denied Young access to those updated guidelines, making it impossible for him to file an appeal before he first contacted the Innocence Project in 2009. She said her nonprofit organization spent seven years investigating Young’s case before agreeing in 2016 to represent him. The current appeal was filed in 2017.

“Arson science has changed significantly since 2001,” DeLosa said.

Because of changes in how arsons are investigated, a defense expert concluded there was no proof the fire was an arson, Innocence Project lawyers claim.

Young has continued to maintain his innocence, as he did at trial a quarter-century ago. Prosecutors said Young set the fire at the family’s 14th Street home as his wife and children slept. Investigators found gasoline cans outside while evidence inside, according to the prosecution, proved the fire was intentionally set through an accelerant and traces of fuel that were soaked into the baby’s diaper.

Witnesses said Young was spotted wearing nothing but his underwear as he walked on the home’s roof as the fire raged and refused to go inside to rescue his family as his wife pleaded for help from an upstairs window.

Young’s appeal should be dismissed because it was filed years too late, Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said. He also said there is no basis for the appeal because the new defense expert made the same conclusion as at least one arson investigator who testified for Young at his trial — that the cause of the fire could not be determined.

“For the defense to prevail on the timeliness issue, it has to prove that new evidence has only come to light after the trial and that it is likely to compel a different verdict,” Ciaramitaro said.

Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said he will conduct two days of hearings, starting May 22, to determine if Young’s appeal was filed on time. He said he will hold a second hearing if needed on the merits of the appeal.

For the Lupsons, they continue to have no doubt Young set the fatal fire, and they will continue to attend court hearings.

“It brings a lot of memories back,” said Pat Lupson. “There’s an empty place at our table all the time.”