Kline

EBENSBURG — A South Fork man was convicted Friday afternoon of first-degree homicide for killing 55-year-old Richard Morgan in May 2023.

A jury of five men and seven women deliberated for about an hour before finding Austin Louis Kline, 25, guilty of criminal homicide, felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor abuse of a corpse and misdemeanor tampering with evidence.

Gasps could be heard in the courtroom as the verdict was read, with many members of Morgan’s family beginning to cry.

Kline remained emotionless during the proceedings and as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.

Once the jury was dismissed and court recessed, members of Morgan’s family tearfully embraced each other while also hugging and expressing gratitude to Cambria County District Attorney Jessica Aurandt, co-counsel Broc Jennings and state police Trooper Donald Neisner.

Outside the courtroom, Aurandt said it had been “three long years for the family.”

“Today is a culmination of their grief, their anger and now closure,” Aurandt said. “We are incredibly happy with the verdict and I hope the family can now begin to heal.”

The third and final day of Kline’s trial began with Jennings calling the prosecution’s last witness, expert forensic pathologist Courtney Healy.

Through questioning, Healy told the jury about her autopsy of Morgan and how she performs an inventory of any belongings present on the decedent’s body, as well as conducting an external and internal examination.

When Jennings asked Healy if she had located the $650 that Kline claimed to have paid Morgan, Healy said no. Jennings then asked what stood out to Healy in her initial examinations of Morgan, to which Healy said the “significant head trauma” Morgan suffered and that his “arms had been removed.”

Healy told the jury that she determined Morgan’s cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and multiple gunshot wounds “to his trunk and lower extremities,” with his manner of death being homicide.

Referring to her autopsy report, Healy identified four gunshot wounds suffered by Morgan. She said two bullets entered Morgan from the front and two from the back, with only one having exited Morgan. The other three bullets were located within his body.

While none of the wounds “would be immediately fatal,” one bullet had perforated Morgan’s liver, which caused him to bleed out internally “within minutes, not hours,” Healy said.

Healy noted that the amputation of Morgan’s arms, which she determined occurred after his death, were “not a clean cut” but required “multiple efforts” to remove.

She also detailed the trauma to Morgan’s head.

Photographs of Morgan’s injuries were then passed out to the jury.

On cross examination, defense attorney Timothy Burns asked Healy if it was possible that Morgan’s belongings were taken off his person by police before the autopsy, to which Healy said she didn’t know.

“I only know what is there at the time of the autopsy,” Healy said.

Following Healy’s testimony, Aurandt recalled Neisner to the stand and asked if police had located any U.S. currency on Morgan at the scene, to which Neisner said no.

Burns then questioned if any money had been found “near” Morgan’s body.

“We didn’t find anything that would rise to the amount of $650 that (Kline) indicated he paid (Morgan),” Neisner said, before adding that he would have documented Morgan’s possessions in his police report.

With Neisner’s additional testimony concluded, the prosecution rested its case and the jury was taken from the courtroom for a comfort break.

During that break, Burns, seeking to give the jury a lesser charge option for his client, asked Presiding Judge Tamara Bernstein to add voluntary manslaughter to Kline’s charges. Voluntary manslaughter is a first-degree felony in Pennsylvania.

The jury would already have to determine if Kline’s actions constituted first-degree or third-degree murder.

Burns asked that the third option be given because he felt “enough evidence has been presented to the jury to warrant the charge.”

Burns argued that Kline acted on the “mistaken” and “unreasonable” belief that he was in danger, which constituted “imperfect self defense.”

“(Kline) acted believing he was in imminent danger,” Burns said.

He told Bernstein that Kline said Morgan charged at and assaulted him “to some extent.”

“We aren’t sure what happened that day other than Mr. Morgan lost his life,” Burns said.

Aurandt disagreed with Burns’s arguments, saying he was “abusing” the court’s discretion.

“A shove or punch to the shoulder does not raise to imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury,” Aurandt said.

Bernstein ultimately sided with the prosecution and cited Kline’s police interviews in her denial of Burns’s request.

“Never once did (Kline) indicate he was fearful,” Bernstein said.

She also pointed out that Kline had to step away to retrieve the shovel and other weapons he used to assault Morgan and that the exit from the garage was never blocked.

The courtroom was then cleared and Kline was questioned by Bernstein on his right to take the stand in his own defense. Kline decided against testifying on his own behalf and the defense rested its case without calling any witnesses or presenting any evidence.

Once the jury was returned to the courtroom, Burns began his closing arguments. He described the case as “very difficult and terrible.”

Burns said Kline maintained his innocence throughout the investigation and cooperated with police. He then claimed that the prosecution had not met its burden in proving malice.

“Just because someone is dead, does not constitute criminal homicide,” Burns said. “We don’t know what led up to this crime.”

He submitted that Morgan’s killing was not premeditated and asked the jury to find Kline not guilty on the homicide charge.

In her closing arguments, Aurandt told the jury that Kline took Morgan’s life “out of anger” but showed no emotion during his multiple interviews with police.

“You are asked not to make your decisions today out of emotion or out of anger,” Aurandt told the jury. “But isn’t that exactly what Mr. Kline did?”

She asked the jury to “use your common sense” in finding Kline guilty of first-degree murder because “that’s what this case is.”

“Malice can occur quickly and be formed in an instant,” Aurandt said. “Premeditation does not require planning or previous thought or any particular length of time. The intent to kill can be formed in an instant.”

She told the jury that Kline was not satisfied that Morgan was still moving on the ground and made the decision to shoot him two more times as he tried to crawl away.

“Mr. Kline was able to walk away without a mark on him,” Aurandt said, before showing the jury a photo of Morgan’s injuries. “And this is what he walked away from.”

In addition to first-degree murder, Aurandt asked the jury to find Kline guilty on all other counts.

Following the verdict and the jury’s dismissal, Bernstein ordered Kline to be held at the Cambria County Prison to await sentencing on July 22. He has been incarcerated there with bail denied since his arrest on May 27, 2023. In Pennsylvania, a first-degree homicide conviction carries a mandatory life without parole sentence.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.