The Pennsylvania Superior Court this week upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life without parole sentence of an Altoona area man for killing another during a confrontation following a botched drug deal.

John P. Stiver, 37, was arrested by city police near the Homers Gap home of his father soon after the shooting that occurred on the afternoon of July 26, 2018, in the parking lot of the Bethany Lutheran Church, 200 Third Ave.

Police alleged Stiver obtained a shotgun from the backseat of his car to shoot David Alan Hoover, 58, who was outside Stiver’s vehicle, armed with a baseball bat.

Hoover earlier that day had paid $250 to Edward “Cowboy” Clemens to obtain an 8-ball of cocaine and two Klonopin pills.

The deal occurred in the restroom of an area Sheetz store, and Stiver was the driver of the vehicle that brought Clemens to the store.

According to the prosecution, Stiver and Clemens had agreed to “burn” Hoover, which meant they had no intention of providing the drugs.

This was in retaliation because Hoover had allegedly stolen $360 that Clemens kept in an envelope in his home.

Stiver and Clemens left the area to allegedly obtain the drugs, but after 30 to 45 minutes of waiting, Hoover and the man he was with, Mark Adams, realized the deal had gone bad.

They went in search of Clemens. That led to a high-speed car chase through Altoona, but Stiver and Clemens eluded their pursuers.

Later that day, Stiver parked his vehicle in the church parking lot while Clemens was walking along Third Avenue Alley hiding hypodermic needles.

Stiver got out of his vehicle and moved the shotgun he was carrying from his trunk to the back seat of his car.

At that point Adams and Hoover showed up and Hoover began walking around the Stiver vehicle carrying a baseball bat.

In its summary of the case the state Superior Court stated, “At no time did Hoover enter the vehicle, nor attempt to enter the vehicle, nor attempt to remove (Stiver) … from the vehicle. At no time did Hoover threaten anyone.”

Stiver backed up his vehicle, and reached out of the window with the 12-gauge shotgun and shot hoover in the neck and chest.

He then picked up Clemens, and they sped away from the scene.

Clemens eventually told police when he got back in the car, Stiver admitted, “I killed him.”

The defense, led by Hollidaysburg attorney Kristen L. Anastasi, contended Stiver was frightened by Hoover and that he shot in self-defense.

Prosecutors Peter J. Weeks and Nichole Smith argued that Stiver had laid in wait for Hoover and Adams.

After the shooting, Adams removed his car from the lot but returned to the scene and cooperated with police in their investigation.

The jury found Stiver guilty of first-degree murder and several other offenses, and Blair County Judge timothy M. Sullivan sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

Anastasi raised multiple challenges to the first-degree finding by the jury, but Sullivan in a 95-page opinion dismissed the appeal.

In an unusual decision, Superior Court judges Alice B. Dubow, Megan King and Correale F. Stevens adopted Sullivan’s opinion as their own.

“We direct the parties to attach the trial court’s opinion in the event of further proceedings in this matter,” the panel stated.

Stiver is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Frackville.