CLEARFIELD — A man convicted for the second time of killing a romantic rival and dumping his body in a pond nearly 10 years ago was sentenced Tuesday to a mandatory life term.
A jury last week convicted Andrew Callahan, 25, of Coalport, of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and abuse of a corpse in the Nov. 5, 1997, shooting death of Micah Pollock, 16, of Blandburg.
Callahan received a similar sentence in 1998 after being convicted of the same charges, but a state Superior Court said jurors had received incorrect instructions and granted him a new trial.
Callahan and Pollock were classmates at Glendale High School in Flinton, about 90 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Pollock's body was found Nov. 11, 1997, in a beaver dam. He had been shot in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Callahan and Pollock were out hunting and Callahan had said he was joking around when the gun accidentally discharged. The defense also maintained Callahan was under the influence of alcohol and a hallucinatory drug and was unable to form an intent to kill.
Prosecutors, however, said Pollock was dating Callahan's former girlfriend, also a student at the school, and jealousy motivated Callahan to kill.
