Horner to face death penalty

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Prosecutors filed papers in the Blair County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon stating they will seek the death penalty against Nicholas A. Horner, the U.S. Army veteran charged in an April double homicide.

Horner, 28, is due to appear before President Judge Jolene G. Kopriva July 31 for arraignment, at which time he will receive formal notice of the aggravating circumstances that the prosecution will attempt to prove when he is brought to trial.

Deputy Assistant District Attorneys Wade Kagarise and Jackie Bernard signed the papers that were filed in the Blair County Prothonotary's Office at noon Wednesday.

Horner is charged with separate counts of homicide in the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Scott Garlick of Hollidaysburg and 64-year-old Raymond Williams of Allegheny Township.

Garlick had just reported for work about 5 p.m. April 6 at the 58th Street Subway restaurant and was in the process of taking out the day's garbage when Horner allegedly entered the rear door of the shop and shot the high school student in the neck, killing him.

Police said Horner then entered the shop and shot a second employee, Michele Petty, in the hip.

After robbing the Subway, police said Horner fled across 58th Street and encountered Williams, whom he shot several times.

Kagarise and Bernard said they will seek the death penalty in each case.

They said Horner must first be convicted of first-degree murder, and then they need to show aggravating circumstances.

Those include killings in the commission of felonies (robberies), a killing while putting others in grave risk of death and the commission of two killings "either before or at the time of the offense at issue."

Horner's attorney, David Shrager of Pittsburgh, said Wednesday that it would premature for him to comment at this point.

According to a recent psychiatric evaluation, Horner, an Iraq war veteran, suffers from several mental health problems including post-traumatic stress disorder and says he does not remember the events that led to his arrest.

Kagarise said he and Bernard evaluated the evidence and consulted with the victims' families before a decision was made on the death penalty.

The prosecution will request that both homicide cases be tried at the same time.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.