GUILTY PA - David Halaburda, 50, beaten to death, Frackville, 28 April 2014

Baldwin said the case, which had been scheduled for December, will not go to trial until February 2016 at the earliest...

West Mahanoy Township police alleged Petrousky, who is being held in prison without bail in this case pending trial, fatally beat Halaburda on the morning of April 28, 2014, in the home the men shared at 256 S. Wylam St.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Petrousky, so the maximum punishment the defendant faces is life imprisonment, which in Pennsylvania carries no chance of parole.

Click to expand...

It took a Schuylkill County jury less than two hours Wednesday to find Thomas John Petrousky guilty of first degree murder and related charges in the April 28, 2014 bludgeoning death of his roommate, David R. Halaburda, formerly of Barnesville.

Petrousky, who was calm and attentive during the three-day trial, did not visibly react to the verdict. He’ll remain in jail without bail.

Click to expand...

Defense attorney Michael Stine had aimed to convince the jury of six women and six men that Petrousky was insane at the time of the murder, which happened after Halaburda asked Petrousky to move out of the Frackville-area home they shared.

One of Stine’s witnesses, psychiatrist Larry A. Rotenberg, testified on Tuesday that Petrousky suffers from schizo-effective disorder in addition to renal failure, heart disease, and diabetes.

Click to expand...

Serina countered Stine’s argument that Petrousky acted in self defense, telling jurors that blood spatter evidence showed Halaburda was near the floor while being beaten about the head with a board wielded by Petrousky.

“This was not self-defense,” Serina said. “This was a brutal, savage, vicious killing.”

Jurors apparently agreed.

Click to expand...

A judge gave the roommate killer Thomas Petrousky life without the possibility of parole.

As Petrousky walked out of court, he was stoic with nothing to say.

"He looks right at you like nothing. He never said he was sorry," said Carol Billus of Frackville.

Life in prison without the possibility of parole, that's the sentence Billus came to hear a judge give, to the man who killed her brother David Halaburda.

Click to expand...

Thomas J. Petrousky must stay behind state prison bars for the rest of his life for murdering his roommate in April 2014 in Altamont, a three-judge state Superior Court panel ruled Thursday.

In a two-page opinion, the panel members decided Petrousky, 56, of Altamont, waived his only ground of appeal when he did not provide allegedly prejudicial photos to them.

“Without the photographs, we cannot conduct a review of Petrousky’s issue presented on appeal,” Judge Jack A. Panella wrote.

As a result, Petrousky will remain at State Correctional Institution/Benner Township in Centre County, where he is serving his sentence for killing David R. Halaburda.

Click to expand...