Death penalty sought in trooper's slaying

Cambria County District Attorney David Tulowitzki announced Thursday he will seek the death penalty against a New Germany man who will stand trial in the death of a state trooper during a Nov. 9 shootout with police.

At a preliminary hearing yesterday, Ebensburg District Justice Frederick Creany ordered Mark Leach, 45, of New Germany, to stand trial on multiple criminal charges, including first-degree murder, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, criminal attempt, and fleeing police in the slaying of Trooper Joseph J. Sepp, 34, a 10-year-veteran of the Ebensburg barracks.

In a dramatic move at the conclusion of yesterday's hearing, Tulowitzki personally served Leach and his attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, with paperwork notifying Leach that he could face the death penalty if he is convicted of first-degree murder. Dickey pleaded not guilty to the charges on behalf of his client.

"We feel there are at least two aggravating circumstances that permit us to seek the death penalty. First, Mr. Leach killed a state trooper in the line of duty, and secondly, he put another person, Trooper Brian Lampel, (Sepp's partner) in danger of death," Tulowitzki said.

Tulowitzki said he decided to pursue the death penalty after consulting with Sepp's widow, Jenny.

"In my interviews with her, she (Mrs. Sepp) absolutely wanted the death penalty. I agree with her," Tulowitzki said.

Sepp, who lived in Windber, also is survived by three young children.

At the preliminary hearing, Summerhill Township police Patrolman Brett Lysinger said he initially pulled Leach over at about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 9 about 10 miles outside of Ebensburg for suspicion of drunken driving.

Lysinger said he observed Leach's Jeep Cherokee come to a sudden stop at a red light at the intersection of routes 160 and 53 in Summerhill.

"The light was red the whole time, and he should have come to an easy stop," Lysinger said.

The officer said he followed Leach's vehicle for a while and saw him cross the double line at one point and eventually pulled him over. Lysinger said Leach got out of his vehicle yelling at the officer.

"He (Leach) had an unsteady gait when he got out of the vehicle. He kept yelling, 'This is a bull—— stop,'" Lysinger said.

Lysinger testified he instructed Leach three times to return to his Jeep before the man obeyed the command. Although Leach returned to his vehicle, Lysinger said Leach continued yelling profanities.

Lysinger said Leach eventually gave him his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. However, Lysinger said he radioed Croyle Township police Officer Michael Popma for backup before informing Leach he wanted him to perform field sobriety tests.

As Lysinger went to Leach's Jeep to ask him to perform the tests, Lysinger said Popma, who was approaching the vehicle from the passenger's side, spotted Leach grabbing a handgun on the passenger seat.

"'Gun! Gun! He has a gun,' Officer Popma said. We both backed away and took defensive positions," Lysinger said.

Lysinger said Leach disobeyed repeated requests to drop the weapon and get out of the vehicle. After a few minutes, Leach drove off and a low-speed chase began toward Ebensburg.

Lysinger said police from several neighboring municipalities eventually joined the chase.

Leach stopped his vehicle twice more before the pursuit ended in Ebensburg but refused police commands to surrender, Lysinger said.

The officer said three of Leach's tires were deflated after Loretto Borough police placed "stop strips" along the highway. The chase ended on South Center Street in downtown Ebensburg, where Leach's Jeep hit a telephone pole.

Lysinger said several police cars, including one occupied by Sepp and Lampel, cordoned off the street.

"I heard Sepp and Lampel yelling, 'Drop the gun! Drop the gun!'" Lysinger said.

The officer said he saw "two distinct flashes" from Leach's hands as he got out of his vehicle and heard gunfire.

After the shooting stopped, Lysinger said he approached Leach, who was wounded and covered with blood. He said even though Leach was injured severely, he boasted he had shot a policeman.

"The whole time he was yelling, "I shot one of your guys...I shot one of your guys....(Expletive) you!' I kept wondering why he was saying this," Lysinger said.

Lysinger said none of the officers initially realized Sepp was wounded mortally until minutes after the shooting. He said he went to the state police cruiser and saw Sepp sitting in the driver's seat with his head down.

"We lifted his head back and saw he was shot. We radioed for an ambulance," Lysinger said.

Lampel said when Leach crashed his vehicle, he got out of the police car and used his door as a shield. Police recovered two bullets fired by Leach from the door.

Lampel testified he did not know his partner was hit until after he had handcuffed Leach and heard someone yell, "Officer down."

Lampel also said after the shooting that he thought he had fired only "four or five" rounds, but when he got back to the station and counted the shells remaining in his gun he discovered he had fired 11 shots.

Leach is confined to a wheelchair because of his injuries. According to Dickey, Leach sustained "between five and 10 gunshot wounds" during the shootout.

"We're not really sure," Dickey said.

Police recovered three bullets from Leach's body, according to testimony from Trooper Richard C. Stepinsky Jr. of the Greensburg barracks.

Stepinsky said a ballistic examination of the three bullets recovered from Leach's body showed two of the bullets were fired by Lampel and the other by Sepp.

After the hearing, Tulowitzki admitted that finding that one of the bullets that struck Leach was fired by Sepp surprised investigators, who initially theorized he had been shot before he got out of the cruiser.

"Because of the finding, we now think he may have been shot and fell back into the seat," Tulowitzki said.

Police reported that Leach was firing from two handguns, a .380-caliber and a .41-caliber, that fired the shot that killed Sepp. Both guns were recovered at the scene, according to Stepinsky.

Sepp died of a gunshot wound to his forehead 38 hours after he was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown.

Several members of Sepp's family, friends and several officers who knew him attended the hearing, which lasted about five hours. Jenny Sepp became distraught several times during the hearing and left the courtroom with the assistance of relatives.

After the hearing, Jenny Sepp yelled toward the wheelchair-bound Leach as he was being wheeled out of the courtroom to return to jail.

"I have three children who will never see their father again," she said, as family members restrained her.

There is no bond set in first-degree murder cases, and Leach has been confined at the Laurel Highlands State Correctional Institution in Somerset County because it has medical facilities.

Creany moved the hearing from his office to the courthouse because of the number of people who attended.