Judge dismisses attempted homicide charge
A panel of Fayette County jurors acquitted Keith David Shipley of four charges Wednesday, and deadlocked on six others. Shipley, 22, of Stewaton Road, Springfield Township, was charged with trying to kill his wife, Amanda, by setting a blanket over top of her on fire, but an attempted homicide charge was dismissed by President Judge William J. Franks on Tuesday.
Jurors, in their verdict, found that Shipley did not assault his wife earlier in the day on April 6, as she testified.
The nine-woman, three-man panel also acquitted Shipley of putting his wife, and infant daughter, Hannah, in danger and found that he did not threaten his daughter.
In all, Shipley was acquitted of simple assault, terroristic threats and two counts of recklessly endangering another person.
State police trooper David Bell charged Shipley with threatening and endangering his daughter because the infant was reportedly in the room where Shipley had tried to set his wife on fire.
Jurors could not reach a verdict on six counts of terroristic threats.
Those charges stemmed from threats he allegedly made to his wife, mother-in-law, Sandra Shipley, his two sons, David and Dakota, Tiffany Richter and Richter’s daughter, Meadow.
Amanda Shipley testified that after she woke to her husband flicking a lighter at her blanket, she ran to her mother’s nearby home. Her two sons were there, as well as the Richters.
While they were inside, Shipley and her mother testified that Keith Shipley ran around threatening to burn down the house and kill the occupants.
He also allegedly entered the home on three occasions.
On the final of those entrances, Sandra Shipley testified that he took a step toward her and she shot him with a .22-caliber handgun.
Keith Shipley, who was shot in the right arm and still has the bullet lodged in his chest, wore the bloodstained Superman T-shirt he had on that night during much of his two-day trial.
Taking the stand in his own defense, Shipley denied assaulting his wife or trying to light her on fire.
He also testified that he never entered Sandra Shipley’s home and only yelled inside to get his wife to come out.
While this was going on, Shipley testified that his daughter, Hannah, was inside his trailer.
Assistant public defender Susan Ritz Harper said following the trial that she would likely file a motion to have her client released from prison in light of the jury’s verdict.
“He’s sitting on $100,000 straight cash (bond); I don’t think we have some homicides on $100,000 straight cash,” said Ritz Harper.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Mehalov said that prosecutors would have to talk about whether or not they would retry Shipley at a later date.