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Murder suspect pleads guilty

Maryland man avoids trial, possible death sentence for Bedford County shooting

Jonta St. Clair Bishop pleaded guilty Wednesday to the 2014 Hyndman-area murder of James Deneen Jr., bringing the nearly three-year case to a close with a life sentence.

Bishop, 21, of Cumberland, Md., avoids a trial and a possible death sentence with the murder plea, which carried a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Bedford County District Attorney Bill Higgins had sought a death-penalty case if Bishop’s charges went to trial, with jury selection scheduled as soon as next week.

He pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder, robbery, arson and abuse of a corpse.

“I am pleased that we were able to deliver justice to the Deneen family,” Higgins said in a written statement. “They were patient and trusted the system, and now they finally have the closure they deserve.”

Bishop, who was 18 at the time, met Deneen in a car near Buffalo Mills in Bedford County to buy marijuana. Bishop then shot Deneen, 36, in the head and took the marijuana before driving the Volkswagen Beetle to a rural roadside and setting it on fire.

Authorities learned of the murder after firefighters dousing the flames found Deneen’s remains in the trunk.

The case led to charges, directly and indirectly, against several people. Three of Bishop’s friends and acquaintances — Kimberlee Sue Forbes, Nickolas Forbes and Domenick Gillespie, all of Bedford County — pleaded guilty in 2015 to allegations that they helped clean the crime scene and dispose of evidence.

Another suspect, Krissie Thompson, was later charged for allegedly setting up the marijuana deal that led to Deneen’s death.

Others have since been charged in related drug investigations spurred by Deneen’s murder.

The case provoked fear in rural southern Bedford County: Officials in Hyndman discussed reactivating the borough’s defunct police department instead of relying on faraway state police.

Bishop was long set for a trial, with county Chief Public Defender Karen Hickey initially arguing he had shot Deneen in self-defense after Deneen pulled a weapon on him. At a 2014 preliminary hearing, an investigating state trooper said Jonta had told her: “It was either me or him.”

Bishop’s charges were held for court, however, and Duncansville attorney Thomas Hooper was appointed to represent him in the death-penalty case. Hooper couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

In a news release issued after Bishop’s plea, Higgins described the crime as a tragic waste.

“There are no winners in a case like this. The Deneen family lost a son, a father, a brother and a friend, and an 18 year-old young man threw his entire life away trying to score some free marijuana,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.

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