Poplawski Trial: Grieving Families Testify About Slain Pittsburgh Officers

Relatives of three slain Pittsburgh Police officers testified about their grief and loss as prosecutors sought to persuade a jury that convicted killer Richard Poplawski should be executed, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Allegheny County District Attorney's office on Monday wrapped up its case in the penalty phase of Poplawski's trial, asking loved ones of the slain officers to recount what those officers meant to them, according to the newspapers and KDKA-TV.

Jurors wept at times as they listened to memories that the mother and sister of Officer Paul Sciullo II, the father of Officer Stephen Mayhle and the wife and other relatives of Officer Eric Kelly shared, according to the newspapers. Ronald Mayhle, father of the slain officer, broke down and was unable to finish reading his impact statement aloud, according to the Post-Gazette and KDKA-TV.

The defense on Tuesday will not present psychiatric evidence but will have its turn to argue that Poplawski, 24, should be sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to the Tribune-Review and KDKA-TV.

The jury from Dauphin County on Saturday night convicted Poplawski of 28 charges, including three counts of first-degree murder, in the ambush slayings of the officers on April 4, 2009, during a gun battle at his home in Stanton Heights. Testimony continues tomorrow before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning.