Man accused of killing mailman in Collier dies from cancer while in jail

The man accused of killing a mail carrier in Collier last year died Monday while in custody.

Court filings said Eric Kortz, 54, had previously been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was being held in Butler County Prison.

Kortz’s federal public defenders filed a motion seeking a detention hearing on Dec. 27, citing their client’s “rapidly deteriorating health.”

The motion, according to another court filing, sought Kortz’s release to hospice care. A hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville on Wednesday morning was canceled Tuesday after the court was informed of Kortz’s death.

Kortz was charged with the Oct. 7, 2021, shooting death of Louis Vignone, 58, of Moon Township.

Vignone was killed in Collier shortly after 10 a.m. on Suburban Avenue. Vignone was there working his mail route. He was shot multiple times.

Kortz told investigators he shot Vignone because he believed Vignone man had poisoned him with cyanide.

A lawsuit filed by Vignone’s wife, Johnna L. Vignone, in March said the family lived on Tyndall Street in Sheraden for 32 years, and Kortz was a neighbor who lived across the back alley from them.

In the spring of 2017, the lawsuit said, Kortz accused the Vignone family of trespassing. He posted a large sign in his yard threatening criminal prosecution or a lawsuit and repeatedly yelled at them both in person and on the phone, the complaint said.

In the fall of 2017, the Vignones decided they could “no longer live with the constant harassment” by Kortz, the lawsuit said. They sold their house and moved to Moon in June 2018.

The lawsuit said Kortz continued to accuse the Vignones of harassment. Kortz drove his van to Vignone’s mail route in October 2020, and then in May, June and September 2021.

“Defendant’s thoughts and actions became more bizarre and delusional, including an incident where he shot off a firearm within his own home, resulting in the police taking and involuntarily committing him” to Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, where he was treated for severe mental illness, the lawsuit said.

The complaint said that Kortz failed to follow the proper treatment and medication regimen prescribed to him, causing his symptoms, “including his obsessive hatred for the Vignones,” to worsen.

Attorney Mark Homyak, who represents Ms. Vignone, said he expects the lawsuit will continue through Kortz’ estate.

“It’s a relief to my client and her family that there’s no chance of the killer of their husband and father being released,” he said.