DA identifies remains as alleged Pa. murder victim

BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — The defense attorney for a New Jersey murder suspect says prosecutors have used a dental mold to identify the skeletal remains of her client’s western Pennsylvania father.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports Wendy Williams told a Butler County judge today that she had been advised by county prosecutors that the remains are those of 65-year-old Kenneth Abbott.

His then-unidentified remains and those of his wife, Celeste Abbott, were found burned behind their Brady home last June.

Forty-one-year-old Colin Abbott, of Randolph, N.J., is charged with murdering Kenneth, his father, and Celeste, his stepmother, then burning their bodies before telling relatives they were incinerated in a fiery car crash.

The comments by Colin Abbot’s attorney came during a pretrial hearing. Williams and county prosecutors aren’t commenting outside of court because the judge has issued a gag order.