A Fayette County jury on Tuesday rejected the death penalty for a Waynesburg man convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings of his wife and mother-in-law 24 years ago.
Jurors returned two verdicts of life in prison for Joseph Nara, 57, in the Jan. 28, 1984, murders of his wife, DeLorean Nara, 23, and mother-in-law, Virginia Ruth Churby, 61. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, but the panel of five men and seven women deliberated for two hours before sparing Nara's life.
The same jury last week convicted Nara of two counts of first-degree murder. He went to Churby's Georges Township mobile home, shot the lock off the door to gain entry and shot DeLorean Nara twice and her mother three times, according to trial testimony.
Prior to sentencing, Nara offered a tearful apology.
"I want to deeply apologize for all the pain and suffering I caused, to my family and to my children," Nara said. "I'm sorry."
Nara was serving life sentences for the killings, having pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1984. Last year, a federal court granted him the right to a trial after finding he was mentally incompetent when he entered the pleas.
During the penalty phase of the trial, three of Nara's four children testified for the defense.
Two of the children, Jackie Bosley of Smithfield and Joseph G. Nara Jr., of Uniontown, were ages 3 and 2, respectively, at the time of the killings. Both were in the trailer when their mother and grandmother were shot.
Bosley testified she has forgiven Nara, and visits him once a month in prison. She wanted a life sentence because Nara is her only surviving biological parent.
"He's a part of me," Bosley testified. "He's the only one left. I don't have my mother."
Nara Jr. testified he has "feelings" for Nara, but he did not expound. He repeatedly referred to Nara as his "biological father." He and Bosley were raised by DeLorean Churby's relatives.
Nara Jr. testified he has visited his father only two or three times in the past year, but said he would continue to do so.
Michelle Finchum, 33, of Newton Falls, Ohio, testified Nara fathered her with another woman. In tearful testimony, she said he was a good father who often has apologized for "being away" from her.
She testified Nara is her only connection to his side of the family.
"He's all I have," Finchum testified. "Even though I don't get to visit that often, I still like to know that he's there, when he calls. I love him."
Chris Capozzi, state deputy attorney general, asked jurors to return death verdicts because of aggravating circumstances, including that Nara was aware his two young children were in the trailer during the shootings.
"With all due respect, Ruth Churby's home was a tin can," Capozzi said. "Those bullets could have gone anywhere and hit anyone."
Capozzi cited two other aggravating factors that allow for the death penalty: that Nara committed a felony when he broke into the trailer to shoot the women, and that there were multiple murders.
To return the life sentences, jurors had to find that mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravating circumstances. A death verdict had to be unanimous.
Nara's attorney, Mark Mehalov of Uniontown, asked jurors for life sentences because other than the double murders, Nara has no criminal record and has been a model prisoner while incarcerated for the past 24 years.
"When it comes down to it, ladies and gentlemen, Joe is 57 years old, and there's two minutes of violence in his life," Mehalov said. "Fifty-seven years, and it comes down to two minutes."
Mehalov told jurors a life sentence is worse than death.
"Life's not a free pass," Mehalov said. "He's gonna sit behind walls and razor wire for the rest of his life."
"He has grandchildren," Mehalov said. "Can Joe Nara ever walk in the park with his grandchildren⢠No. Can he ever teach them to ride a bike⢠No. That's a worse punishment than death."
Nara did not testify, but his sister, Georgetta Belch of McClellandtown, told reporters her brother is a good man who "snapped" after discovering a friend allegedly was having an affair with his wife.
"They pushed my brother to the brink," Belch said. "He's said to me that all he saw was a black TV, that everything went blank."
Belch claimed Nara did not receive a fair trial, and expressed concern over testimony that pegged him as a police and jailhouse informant. The allegations will hurt her brother when he returns to prison, she said.
"If you go to jail and are classified as an informant, the inmates don't like you, the guards don't like you," Belch said. "What kind of life is this man gonna have⢠It's a travesty of justice. He was better off the way it was."
The Churby family declined comment.
