Murder of Anthony Milano

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The murder of Anthony Milano occurred on December 15, 1987, when Richard Laird and Frank Chester murdered Anthony Milano, a 26-year-old gay man, in a rural part of Bristol, Pennsylvania. According to prosecutors, Laird and Chester planned to murder Milano shortly after meeting him the previous night because they believed that he was gay. Both Laird and Chester were convicted of murdering Milano and sentenced to death in May 1988. This reportedly represented the first time in the United States that perpetrators of an anti-gay hate crime had been sentenced to death. [1] [2]

In 1991, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania upheld both Laird's and Chester's convictions and death sentences. [3] Laird subsequently petitioned for post-conviction relief in Pennsylvania state court under the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA). However, the PCRA Court denied Laird's petition for relief, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed in 1999. [4] Having exhausted his options for attempting to obtain post-conviction relief in state court, Laird subsequently filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal district court, which was partially granted in 2001. The district court vacated Laird's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence without prejudice on the grounds that his due process rights had been violated. [5] The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed in 2005, directing that the case be returned to Pennsylvania state court for Laird to be either retried for first-degree murder or sentenced based on his remaining convictions, such as his conviction for second-degree murder. [6] The state of Pennsylvania opted to retry Laird, and he was convicted and sentenced to death again in 2007. In March 2011, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed Laird's death warrant, scheduling his execution for May 12, 2011. However, in April, a Bucks County court judge subsequently granted a stay of his execution, as did a federal district judge the following day, to allow Laird's attorneys to pursue their post-conviction appeals. [7] These appeals were also unsuccessful, with the PCRA Court denying Laird relief in orders issued in 2012 and 2013. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania affirmed this decision in 2015. [8] Laird then filed another petition for habeas relief in federal court, arguing that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to hire an expert to address the sexual abuse Laird suffered as a child. The district court denied this petition in 2016, and the Third Circuit affirmed this denial in a 2025 decision. [9]

References

  1. ↑ Reports, From News Services and Staff (1988-05-22). "2 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ANTI-GAY KILLING". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Reuben (2011-03-02). "Death-Row Inmate Partly Nixes Murder Conviction". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  3. ↑ Commonwealth v. Chester, 587A.2d1367 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania1991-03-20).
  4. ↑ Commonwealth v. Laird, 726A.2d346 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania1999-03-01).
  5. ↑ Laird v. Horn, 159F.Supp.2d58 (E.D. Pa.2001-09-05).
  6. ↑ Laird v. Horn, 414F.3d419 (3rd Cir.2005-07-19).
  7. ↑ Mann, Camille (2011-05-05). "Richard Laird execution for anti-gay hate murder put on hold in Pa". CBS News . Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  8. ↑ Commonwealth v. Laird, 119A.3d972 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania2015-07-20).
  9. ↑ Laird v. Horn, 129F.4th227 (3rd Cir.2025-02-26).
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