Commonwealth v. Slavik

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Bell,

On November 21, 1968, while represented by Court-appointed counsel, defendant Thomas Slavik pleaded guilty to the murder of John Morgo. A three-Judge Court thereupon heard the testimony and found Slavik guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. From the judgment of sentence, defendant took this appeal. Defendant’s principal contention is that first-degree murder was not established beyond a reasonable doubt. In our opinion, it was.

The victim, John Morgo, aged twenty-one, had a date with his girl friend, Joanne Petroff, aged…