Commonwealth v. Chester

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Cohen,

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on January 24, 1959, Harold Walker was found dead lying in bed in his second-floor apartment at 1104 Sheffield Street, Pittsburgh. The pathologist attributed death to shock following contusions of the head, face, neck, back, and chest with multiple fractures of the ribs. He testified that the injuries producing the shock could have come from repeated blows to the body.

Charles Boss, James Houlihan, and Leo Chester were indicted for the murder of Walker. The Commonwealth’s theory was that the three men had par ticipated in a plan to rob…