SCRANTON — A man has been convicted for the third time in the 1983 slayings of three elderly siblings during a botched robbery in Lackawanna County. The jury, which has been sequestered, returns today to decide whether David Chmiel, 47, should again be sentenced to death. The six men and six women on the jury spent 10 hours deliberating before returning with its verdict Saturday evening. Chmiel's two previous convictions and death sentences were overturned on appeal. Chmiel's defense lawyers maintained that Chmiel's brother, Martin, killed the victims during the robbery. Martin Chmiel was a chief witness for the prosecution. Chmiel was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of Angelina, James and Victor Lunario of Throop, as well as two counts of robbery and one of burglary. The victims' relatives were relieved by the verdict. Grace Lunario Tullo, a surviving sibling, said justice was done for the third time. The jury heard from 52 witnesses and saw 212 exhibits during the three-week trial before Lackawanna County Judge Terrence Nealon. "Well, the jury spoke," defense lawyer Gerald Grealish said after the verdict. "At least we're able to say that they deliberated for 10 hours. They must have had doubt. We had a thinking jury." Senior Deputy Attorney General Patrick Blessington declined comment until the sentencing hearing concludes. Chmiel went to death row after a 1984 conviction that was overturned in 1994, when the state Superior Court ruled that he had not had effective counsel. He was convicted again in 1995, but that verdict was tossed in 1999, when the state Supreme Court said he had been denied a speedy trial and protection against double jeopardy. In May 2000, Grealish and co-counsel Paul Ackourey asked to block the third trial, but the Supreme Court rejected the request without comment. Grealish and Ackourey also defended Chmiel in 1995, when the jury deliberated for about two hours.

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