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Court upholds murder conviction

Cambria County man contends he didn’t intentionally kill girlfriend

The first-degree murder conviction and life sentence of a Cambria County man who stabbed his girlfriend to death more than three years ago has been upheld by the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

David Leon Johnson, now 39, went to the Richard Township Police Department during the early morning of March 31, 2015, and told Detective Thomas Keirn that he had stabbed his girlfriend three times — “like maybe in the side of her neck, like in the back”– during a struggle over an ATM card he took from her so that he could obtain money to buy crack cocaine.

His victim was 30-year-old Allison Vaughn, who had arrived at their apartment after dinner with friends.

He demanded she tell him her ATM pin number so he could obtain money for crack, and after getting the number, he attempted to duct tape her so she would not contact authorities. A struggle ensued, and the stabbings occurred.

After purchasing crack in Johnstown, he returned home, drank wine and took a shower, he told the detective.

Johnson, charged with first-degree murder and a variety of other offenses, was tried before Cambria Judge Partrick Kiniry in a non-jury trial.

In an opinion issued Thursday, the Superior Court stated Johnson was found guilty on March 15, 2017, of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and other offenses.

Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Ann Callihan decided not to proceed with a death penalty hearing, and Kiniry sentenced Johnson to life without parole plus 10 to 20 years for other offenses.

Johnson, represented by Ashian Jann Clark of Ebensburg, appealed the verdict.

He contended the prosecution was unable to show that he intentionally killed Vaughn, noting in his confession that he only wanted Vaughn’s PIN number and had no premeditated plan to kill her.

A Superior Court opinion issued Thursday by Judge Victor P. Stabile stated that Johnson told the detective he had stabbed Vaughn in the neck.

“Use of a deadly weapon on a vital body part is sufficient to prove specific intent to kill,” the opinion stated.

Johnson also challenged testimony by forensic expert, Ashley Zezyulak. The defense contended she lacked experience, but the Superior Court opinion upheld her testimony, pointing out her “extensive educational background.”

In denying Johnson’s challenges to his conviction and sentence, the Superior Court supported the opinion written by Judge Kiniry.

Kiniry wrote Johnson admitted he stabbed her three times, and Kiniry concluded, “Assuming only for argument’s sake, that the specific intent to kill her did not exist after the first blow was struck, we are satisfied that it was present at some point between the first and third strike.”

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