HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Governor Tom Wolf is defending his decision to issue a reprieve in the scheduled execution of a convicted killer.
Over the objection of York County District Attorney Tom Kearney, Governor Wolf issued a reprieve halting this weeks scheduled execution of convicted murderer Hubert L. Michael.
The temporary reprieve will remain in effect until the governor has received and reviewed the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment. Governor Wolf imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in February.
"I'm waiting for the bipartisan report that the senate is working on. I think we need to be really careful when we're deciding on a death penalty," said Governor Wolf. "These are heinous crimes, they deserve to be punished severely, and I have the greatest sympathy for the families of victims, but we need to know that this is the appropriate penalty and that it is fairly applied. And I think that study I'm waiting for will help me make that decision."
Michael, 58, was scheduled to be executed this Friday, June 5. He was convicted in 1994 and handed the death penalty for the abduction and killing of 16-year-old Trista Eng, of Dillsburg, York County. Testimony during the trial also revealed that Eng was raped.
In April, Kearney wrote, “If there is to be a death sentence in this Commonwealth, Mr. Michael is the poster child for it to occur." Kearney said granting a reprieve to Michael would make a mockery of the judicial system.
Pennsylvania has not carried out an execution since putting to death by lethal injection, Gary Heidnik in 1999.