Commonwealth v. Soffen

The defendant, Francis F. Soffen, was indicted on three counts of armed robbery while masked and two counts of murder in the first degree. At his arraignments on all these charges, the defendant pleaded not guilty. On March 6,1973, the date set for trial on one of the murder indictments, the defendant retracted his earlier pleas and offered pleas of guilty to the armed robberies while masked and to so much of the murder indictments as charged murder in the second degree. A Superior Court judge accepted the pleas and sentenced the defendant to two terms of life imprisonment for the murders and…