Commonwealth v. Patskin

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Bell,

Defendant was found guilty by a jury of first degree murder and the penalty was fixed at death. The killing was a particularly brutal one. Defendant did not take the witness stand, the only defense presented in his behalf was insanity. His arguments for a new trial are based solely on alleged trial errors.

On the evening of May 10, 1951, the headquarters of the Pennsylvania State Police in Blakely Borough, Lackawanna County, received a telephone call from a person identifying himself as Theodore Patskin, a son of the defendant, saying his father had killed his…