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Lawsuit against detectives to proceed

Siehl contends murder probe ignored other suspects, used fabricated evidence

The magistrate judge presiding over a lawsuit filed by a Johnstown man freed after 25 years in prison for the murder of his estranged wife has rejected a request to dismiss the civil charges against the lead detectives in the case.

Attorney Brian Gabriel of Pittsburgh contended that the detectives, Angelo Cancelliere and Lawrence Wagner, were protected from civil lawsuit by qualified immunity, meaning they cannot be held liable for circumstances that occurred in pursuit their official duties.

But Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan stated in a 21-page opinion that at this stage of the proceedings, the facts stated in the civil lawsuit brought on behalf of the former inmate, Kevin Siehl, 62, of Johnstown, were enough for the case against the detectives to move forward.

The attorney for the detectives and the city of Johnstown, Brian Gabriel, said at this point in the case, he can’t say much.

The facts charged by Siehl, under the process, are considered to be true in this initial stage.

He said the allegations would be addressed in the discovery stage.

However, he believes Can­celliere and Wagner acted properly in their investigation of the case.

Siehl, through his attorney Jonathan H. Feinberg of Philadelphia, contends that the detectives filed murder and other charges against him that were supported by fabricated evidence and that they pursued Siehl as the perpetrator while ignoring other suspects, including the wife’s boyfriend and a relative of Siehl’s who once threatened to kill her.

Feinberg has charged in the lawsuit that Siehl is the victim of a malicious prosecution, false evidence, the withholding of exculpatory evidence by the prosecution, violation of Siehl’s right to a fair trial and a state claim of malicious prosecution.

Lenihan’s Wednesday opinion was in addition to her ruling late last week refusing to grant immunity to others involved in the Siehl prosecution, including the prosecutors, former Cambria County District Attorney David Tulowitzki and Assistant District Attorney Daniel Lovette, and Pennsylvania State Police forensic experts Merrill Brant and Scott Ermlick.

The magistrate judge’s ruling dismissed a state charge of malicious prosecution against Tulowitzki, Lovette, Brant and Ermlick, but she refused to dismiss it against Cancelliere and Wagner, pointing out the detectives prepared the affidavit of probable cause in the Siehl case, which cited the alleged false evidence in support of his arrest.

In 1991, Siehl was charged with the stabbing death of his wife, Christine, 29, in her Johnstown apartment.

The killing, according to the charges, occurred about 1:30 a.m. on July 13 after a date she had with Siehl. The two continued to see each other although they lived apart.

Christine Siehl’s body was found on July 14 in the bathtub of her home with the shower running. She had been stabbed 20 times.

The police investigation determined that Siehl had left a fresh fingerprint on the shower head, that his blood was mixed with Christine’s on the wall of the bathroom, and that he had blood on the L.A. Gear shoes he wore that night.

The investigating officers also attributed comments to Siehl that he had been with his wife until 2 to 3 a.m. on July 13, allegedly placing him with her at the time of death.

Siehl was convicted by a Cambria County jury in 1992 and sentenced to life without parole.

Throughout the Penn­sylvania post-conviction process, the evidence used to convict Siehl was proved incorrect, according to the lawsuit.

The fingerprint on the shower head was not from Siehl. The blood on the wall was not Siehl’s. There was no blood on his shoes, and he maintained he never told police he was with Christine until 2 or 3 a.m.

In fact, Siehl contends he told police he was dropped off by Christine at his family home by 1 a.m., and he cited two witnesses to support his story — his father and a neighbor — but police never interviewed them.

It took 20 years to bring to light lab notes from the state police crime laboratory that disputed that blood had been found on Siehl’s shoes.

The magistrate also pointed out that police interviewed another possible suspect who was “extremely nervous” with “hands trembling,” and with “shaky speech.” That suspect twice failed to appear for lie detector tests, according to facts cited by the magistrate.

The lawsuit contends the detectives knew the facts supporting their suspicions against Siehl were not true, yet they were intent on charging him with Christine’s death.

After several post-trial hearings on the case, Senior Judge David Grine from Centre County in June 2016 granted Siehl a new trial.

After reviewing the 25-year-old case, the Penn­sylvania Attorney General’s Office refused to retry Siehl and he was released from prison at age 60.

The civil lawsuit seeking monetary damages for Siehl was filed last year in the District Court in Johnstown.

District Judge Kim R. Gibson recused himself from the case because Wagner became employed on the security staff at the Johnstown courthouse.

It was then assigned to Lenihan.

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