Commonwealth v. Thomas

WIEAND, Judge:

Bruce Thomas was convicted by a jury of kidnapping. The jury found that on May 23, 1982, between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., Thomas and another person placed Theresa Forlastro, who was partially wrapped in a quilt, into the trunk of Thomas’ vehicle in Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, and drove eighty miles to Cheat Lake, near Morgantown, West Virginia. Later that morning, Miss Forlastro’s body was found in the lake by a fisherman. She had been bound, gagged and shot in the head. Thomas was charged in Pennsylvania with kidnapping. 1 A first trial ended in a mistrial because of a mid-trial…