Commonwealth v. Butler

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Jones,

Appellant pled guilty to and was convicted on two counts of murder in the first degree. This appeal is taken from the imposition of two consecutive life sentences.1

The Commonwealth’s evidence establishes the following operative facts: Marguerite Snyder, age sixty-nine, and Mary Deremer, age sixty-seven, were proprietors of a combination gas station, restaurant and grocery store in Cumberland Valley Township, Pennsylvania, known as the “Beeehwood Inn.” Early on the morning of December 1, 1971, the appellant entered the Beeeh*98wood Inn and, at gunpoint,…