HARRISBURG, Pa. - Over the objection of York County District Attorney Tom Kearney, Governor Wolf issues a reprieve halting this weeks scheduled execution of convicted murderer Hubert L. Michael.
A release from the Department of Corrects says 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, and any recommendations contained therein are satisfactorily addressed.
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. Testimony during the trial also revealed that Eng was raped.
Governor Wolf imposed a moratorium in February on the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
In April, Kearney wrote that, "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.