Thursday, December 19, 2013
3rd-degree murder plea in 2012 bat slaying
EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty in the baseball bat slaying of his estranged girlfriend’s son last fall.
Fifty-one-year-old Gregory Conzo of Summerhill pleaded guilty in Cambria County on Wednesday to third-degree murder in the November 2012 beating death of 37-year-old Michael Pcola.
Authorities said Conzo was arguing with the woman at a Cresson home in November and used an aluminum bat to strike the victim, who died two days later.
Conzo told the judge that he and his girlfriend were fighting and Pcola came downstairs and threatened to kill him. He said he feared for his life — and not for the first time around Pcola — but only used the bat in hopes of settling the other man down. Defense attorney Kenneth Sottile said his client “overreacted.”