Timeline details events surrounding Victor Steban's crime spree, double homicide

Victor Steban of North Huntingdon on Wednesday admitted to killing a Penn Township couple in May 2021 after shooting at several area homes as part of what investigators say was a retaliation crime spree.

The following is a timeline of events.

Monday, May 15

• Multiple fire departments respond to a blaze at Steban’s North Huntingdon home on North Thompson Lane at 11 p.m. Investigators say Steban told them that “he lit the fire to destroy evidence of the plan he had put in place that evening.” He was charged with arson and firearm violations in this incident.

• North Huntingdon police and fire units respond to the 1100 block of Clay Pike at 11:45 p.m. after an explosive device damaged a 1967 Chrysler Newport at the home of William Faloona, a former leader of the Pagans motorcycle gang. Steban was a suspect in the explosion but has not been charged. He told the media during a later court appearance that he was disappointed he “did not get Faloona,” who testified for the federal government in 2012 against North Huntingdon businessman Jon Scalzitti after he was charged with operating a multimillion-dollar drug distribution organization.

Tuesday, May 16

• At 12:13 a.m., shots are fired at a home in the 300 block of Jackson Road in Sewickley Township. Police say Steban targeted a woman he believed caused his breakup with a former girlfriend. He told troopers he fired “at least nine rounds” from an AK-47 and an AR-15 into a garage.

• Ten minutes later, a home on Carnegie Road in Sewickley is riddled with at least 12 rounds from an AR-15. According to court documents, Steban told police he also lit a road flare and threw it at the residence “hoping to burn out” the owner.

• At 12:50 a.m., the Hempfield home of Dennis “Rooster” Katona, the former national president of the Pagans Motor­cycle Club, is shot at least 16 times. Neither Katona, 54, nor his wife was there, but she said the couple’s two teenage granddaughters were inside with friends. Police claim Steban intended to kill Dennis Katona and aimed at his bedroom.

Steban was charged with attempted homicide, shooting into occupied structures and firearms violations in these three incidents.

• Sometime in the afternoon, police say, Steban drives his green 2002 Chevrolet Silverado pickup into a field near the Claridge, Penn Township, home of Jacob Erdeljac, 41. Steban lies in wait for the Duquesne Light supervisor with whom he had a dispute and also blamed for a breakup with his girlfriend. When Erdeljac and his girlfriend, Mara Casale, 27, return home from a motorcycle ride about 8:30 p.m., Steban ambushes the couple in the driveway, shooting them multiple times. Casale, a Penn-Trafford graduate, worked as a barmaid and waitress at a tavern in Harrison City.

Investigators said Steban had a prior dispute with Erdeljac, who he also blamed for the breakup with his girlfriend.

Steban was charged with two counts of criminal homicide in the killings.

Wednesday, May 17

• Steban’s vehicle is stuck in the mud, so he takes Erdeljac’s red 2005 Toyota Tacoma pickup and flees in the early morning hours after the killings, police say.

Investigators said Steban initially drove to Bedford County, then headed to White Oak in Allegheny County before abandoning the truck in Manor.

He was charged with vehicle theft and illegal possession of firearms.

Thursday, May 18

• During a morning news conference, police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives name Steban as the suspect in the crime spree and murders.

• Fearing authorities are closing in on him, police say, Steban attempts to carjack two men in a pickup parked at a nearby Sheetz convenience store. The truck’s occupants refuse to get out. Deciding to walk away, Steban is taken into custody after investigators receive a tip that he is walking, carrying a gun, along Route 30 near his home on Thompson Lane in North Huntingdon.

He was charged with attempted vehicle theft and illegal possession of firearms.