Altoona defense attorney Thomas Dickey claims a Bedford County Prison inmate was a witness to the May 2001 killing of 20-year-old Hollidaysburg resident Shari Lee Jackson.
According to Blair County District Attorney, the inmate mailed the letter to Dickey after Seilhamer was convicted. The inmate, whose name remains anonymous, said he wasn’t exactly at the scene of the crime, but driving around in the area where the killing took place.
Dickey claims this witness’ accounts of that evening will prove that his client, Marie Seilhamer, did not cause the death of Jackson. Instead, he said the witness can show that co-defendant Kristin Marie Edmundson killed the former emergency medical technician.
Gorman said he does not believe the witness and wonders why he is coming forth with the information now, instead of bringing it to the attention of authorities prior to Seilhamer’s trial.
“We doubt the credibility of such a witness,” Gorman told The Daily Herald this morning. “We’re confident there were only three individuals there that night. Those were Ms. Seilhamer, Ms. Edmundson and the victim.”
Gorman said there is no way of knowing the identity of Dickey’s witness, stating the Blair County Prison does not track who sends what from the prison. He said Dickey should come forth with the identity of the witness by at least Aug. 19, the hearing date set for Kopriva to listen to Dickey’s post sentence motion.
Dickey has also motioned the court taking issues with the guilty verdict imposed by a jury and the sentence handed down by Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva, claiming the 10 to 20 year conspiracy sentence is cruel and unusual.
Gorman said that although Judge Kopriva’s sentence was above the standard Pennsylvania guidelines, he said the crime matches the sentence.
Dickey is also claiming the court was wrong in only allowing certain statements by Edmundson into the trial proceedings, but Gorman said the court allowed in a number of statements that shouldn’t have been in in the first place.
Seilhamer was recently sentenced by Kopriva to serve life in prison and an additional 20 to 40 years for conspiracy in the case. Dickey claimed it was solely Edmundson who was responsible for the murder. He claimed his client didn’t know Edmundson was planning to kill Jackson and when it did happen, it sickened her.
Edmundson entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder in charges in January and was recently sentenced to serve the rest of her natural life behind bars at a state correctional facility.
Two others, Scott Alan Custer, 24, and Amanda Speicher, 21, both of Boswell, were sentenced on lesser charges.
On May 7, 2001, Jackson’s burnt body was found in a clearing just off state Route 453, north of Tyrone, more commonly known as the Janesville Pike. Within hours, the girls were apprehended and brought in for questioning.
Authorities said both girls admitted to the killing.
