Thomas J. Petrousky will spend the rest of his life looking at the world through state prison bars, as a Schuylkill County jury convicted him Wednesday of first-degree murder and related crimes for the April 2014 killing of his roommate in West Mahanoy Township.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated a little less than two hours before finding Petrousky, 55, of Altamont, guilty of first-degree murder, possessing instruments of crime, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and two counts of aggravated assault in the death of David R. Halaburda.
President Judge William E. Baldwin, who presided over the three-day trial, ordered preparation of a presentence investigation, said he would schedule sentencing at a later date and directed Petrousky to continue to be held without bail.
However, the first-degree murder conviction carries with it a mandatory sentence of life in prison, which in Pennsylvania includes no chance of parole.
West Mahanoy Township police charged Petrousky with fatally beating Halaburda, 50, on the morning of April 28, 2014, in the 256 S. Wylam St. residence they shared.
The conviction pleased prosecutors, who had suffered a setback when Baldwin declined to allow their expert witness, psychiatrist Dr. Tracy Calvert, to testify about Petrousky’s mental state.
“I think that we had a fantastic jury,” said Assistant District Attorney A.J. Serina, who prosecuted the case with First Assistant District Attorney John T. Fegley. “I could tell during the closing they were very attentive and receptive.”
Serina also said Halaburda’s family is pleased with the result.
Serina said Baldwin did not allow Calvert to testify because she could not clearly state the M’Naghten test for legal insanity in Pennsylvania
In his closing argument, Chief Public Defender Michael J. Stine, Petrousky’s lawyer, told jurors that prosecutors had failed to prove his client committed first-degree murder. He said that if the killing had been premeditated, Petrousky would have hidden the board he used to beat Halaburda instead of leaving it in plain sight.
Furthermore, the evidence showed Petrousky was legally insane at the time of the killing, thereby negating his guilt for all of the charges.
“What the case comes down to is mental illness,” Stine said.
He said Petrousky could not appreciate the nature of his actions and did not know they were wrong, the two prongs of the M’Naghten test. Furthermore, Stine said, that was the testimony of psychiatrist Dr. Larry A. Rotenberg, the defense’s expert witness.
Stine also said there was no medical evidence Petrousky was either intoxicated or on drugs. Testimony by township police Patrolman Raymond J. Tonkinson that Petrousky appeared intoxicated is unreliable, since he is not trained to identify someone with mental illness, according to Stine.
Stine, who could not be reached for comment after the verdict, also said Petrousky had a history of mental illness, many physical infirmities and a low intelligence.
However, jurors accepted the closing argument of Serina that the evidence showed Petrousky was angry, not insane.
“What we have here is anger turned to hatred, hatred turned to rage and rage turned to murder,” Serina said.
Serina said Petrousky had showed his anger the day before the killing when he chased Halaburda to a neighbor’s house.
“Those emotions led to murder,” he said.
Petrousky followed Halaburda from the kitchen to the living room, and blood transfer stains showed he paused at times during the beating, Serina said.
“The defendant had the opportunity to take into account the blood, the damage ... and it didn’t matter to him,” Serina said.
According to Serina, Petrousky’s behavior both before and after the crime showed he was not insane when he killed Halaburda.
“He manipulated the crime scene after the fact” by piling items on top of Halaburda’s body, Serina said. Petrousky also put a T-shirt over his own blood-stained sweatshirt, Serina said.
Even before the crime, Petrousky behaved angrily but rationally, according to Serina. He noted that when Petrousky chased Halaburda, he was careful not to enter the neighbor’s house and left the scene when asked.
“He understood he couldn’t go into the house,” Serina said. “He understood the right thing to do was leave.”
Serina called Rotenberg’s testimony “convenient,” noting the doctor could not say when Petrousky became mentally ill.
He also said Petrousky’s swollen hands paled in comparison to Halaburda losing his life, making a mockery of any claim of self defense.
“This was not self defense,” Serina said three times as he showed photographs of Halaburda to the jury. “This was a brutal, savage, malicious killing. The evidence shows first-degree murder ... a specific intent to kill David. He had an opportunity to think about it.”
Defendant: Thomas J. Petrousky
Age: 55
Residence: Altamont
Verdict: Guilty of first-degree murder, possessing instruments of crime, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and two counts of aggravated assault