Appeal reinstated for man convicted in 1993 fatal Jeannette house fire

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court has reinstated the appeal of a former Jeannette man serving three life sentences for the 1993 murder of his wife and two young children.

James Young, now 56, contends his conviction to three counts of first-degree murder were based on since-revised investigatory techniques. Investigators said the fire that killed his family was intentionally set.

Prosecutors argued Young sought to end a bad marriage when he set fire to his 14th Street home in Jeannette then failed to get help for his wife and children as the blaze destroyed the house.

Young’s 26-year-old wife, Gina Marie; his stepson, Shaun Holden, 3; and Joshua, the couple’s 7-month-old baby, were killed.

According to evidence at the trial, investigators found gasoline cans outside the house and traces of fuel soaked into the diaper of Young’s infant son. Arson investigators claimed the pattern of burns in the house suggested the blaze was intentionally set. They said arson dogs detected evidence that an accelerant was used.

Witnesses testified they saw Young walk on the roof of the house as it burned, and he refused to rescue his family as his wife pleaded for help from an upstairs window.

In his appeal, Young argued the science used by investigators to determine the fire was arson has since been debunked, an argument that has yet to be considered by a judge.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani last summer ruled Young’s appeal was filed too late and did not consider the merit’s of the defense’s argument for a new trial.

But a three-judge Superior Court panel ruled Young’s appeal was filed in a timely fashion. They sent the case back to Westmoreland County Court.

“We thus conclude that appellant has established newly-discovered facts to confer jurisdiction with the … court, and is entitled to a merits determination of his underlying claim of innocence,” according to the appeals court ruling.

Melanie Jones, spokesman for Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli, said prosecutors are reviewing the ruling and evaluating a potential appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Feliciani, in a series of hearings conducted in 2021 and 2022, heard testimony from a defense expert who said the science used to investigate the origins of fire has been refined and updated since Young’s trial in the early 1990s, with the latest revision occurring in 2021.

The appeals court ordered Feliciani to consider how those investigatory changes impact Young’s case.

“There’s new fire science that entitles him to a new trial,” said Nilam Sanghvi, legal director for the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which is representing Young during his appeal. “The fire should not have been classified as arson under modern principals.”