Hempfield man convicted of wife's murder returns to court for 4th appeal

A former Hempfield man serving a life prison sentence for the 2012 murder of his wife appeared before a Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday in a fourth attempt to appeal his conviction.

David Stahl, 53, was found guilty of first-degree murder following a 2014 trial in which prosecutors said he strangled his 37-year-old wife, Rebecca, a popular teacher in the Derry Area School District, burned her belongings, lied to family members about her whereabouts and, after several days, dumped the body in a brush-covered field near Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.

Stahl did not testify at his trial. His defense lawyers argued he should be found guilty of lesser charges such as third-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. Stahl has since filed three unsuccessful appeals seeking to overturn his conviction.

Stahl was transferred from his cell at the state Correctional Institution in Greene County to allow Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears to hear his latest effort to challenge the case. Stahl is acting as his own lawyer and has demanded his former attorneys turn over documents related to the jury selection of his trial.

Stahl previously argued he should have a new trial because his former lawyers empanelled an all-woman jury to hear his case a decade ago. The courts have previously rejected that claim, but he told the judge he again is seeking to challenge his conviction based on that claim.

“He needs to say what exactly he wants. He was transported here for this hearing so he needs to move this along or forever hold his peace,” said Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli. “There does need to be finality.”

Stahl’s last court challenge was barred by the state’s Superior Court, which ruled his appeal was filed too late.

Mears said Stahl, because he has previously been represented by the county’s public defender’s office and two other court-appointed lawyers in his appeals, is no longer eligible to have a taxpayer funded attorney and that he has no further jurisdiction in the case.