Commonwealth v. Vento

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Eagen,

Frank Agnello suffered an untimely death due to thirty-one stab wounds deliberately inflicted by one Rudolfo Dominquez. The defendant, James Vento, whom the Commonwealth charged “aided, abetted, procured and assisted” Dominquez in the commission of the crime, was arrested and jointly indicted with him on the charge of murder. The Commonwealth requested and obtained a severance and then elected to proceed to trial against the defendant, Vento, alone. At trial, a jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree and fixed the punishment at life…