Jul 18, 2002 By Jennifer Harr 4 min read

Fayette County prosecutors formally filed notice Wednesday that they intend to seek the death penalty against Mark D. Edwards Jr., the 19-year-old accused of killing members of the Bobish family in April and then setting their house ablaze to cover up the crime. District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon said she heavily weighed the decision to do so and ultimately felt that seeking the death penalty was the appropriate option.

“We considered the four aggravating factors that were present and determined seeking the death penalty was proper,” said Vernon.

Under law, at least one aggravating factor as deemed by law must be present for the district attorney’s office to seek the death penalty against an individual. In this case, Vernon said she found four:

– That Edwards created a risk of death to Larry Bobish Jr. when he killed Bobish’s parents, Larry Sr. and Joanna, and sister, Krystal, as well as Krystal’s unborn son. Edwards was charged with four counts of criminal homicide in the deaths, including one for the unborn baby. He also allegedly shot and stabbed Bobish Jr., but the 12-year-old managed to make it out of the family’s burning house and was discovered by an off-duty state police corporal.

– That Edwards killed the pregnant Krystal Bobish, who was in her third trimester at the time.

– That Edwards killed the Bobishes by means of torture.

– That Edwards and the Bobishes were associated by the drugs he allegedly stole from their home in the days before their deaths.

On April 14, state police contend, Edwards went to the Bobishes’ Kennedy Street Extension home in North Union Township in response to multiple conversations he’d had with Bobish Sr. the day before and into the early morning hours.

The elder Bobish, according to preliminary hearing testimony, paged Edwards multiple times in an attempt to gain payment for six bottles of the drug “wet” Edwards allegedly robbed Bobish of two days before the killings.

“Wet” is the street name for a combination of liquid PCP and formaldehyde into which traditional or marijuana cigarettes are dipped.

Larry Bobish Jr. testified at the hearing that he woke up in the early April 14 and heard his father and “Marky” arguing in the kitchen. The boy, 12, testified that he saw Edwards shoot his father and then head into his parents’ room, where police presume Edwards shot Joanna Bobish.

After he was confronted by Krystal Bobish, 17, Edwards shot her and then came to the living room couch, where the boy was sleeping, and attacked him, Bobish Jr. testified.

To successfully get a death sentence, prosecutors first must prove the killing was premeditated and grounds for a first-degree murder conviction. Then, prosecutors would present aggravating factors to the panel to prove that the death penalty is warranted. Ultimately, a jury must be in complete agreement that the death penalty is warranted.

Edwards will be formally served with death penalty notice this morning at his official court arraignment. During that proceeding, Edwards will enter a plea of guilty or not guilty to the four counts of criminal homicide and one count of attempted homicide filed against him.

The last time county prosecutors successfully sought the death penalty was in 1988, when Mark D. Breakiron was condemned to die for the murder of barmaid Saundra Martin. Breakiron, 40, beat and stabbed Martin repeatedly as she closed down Shenanigan’s bar along Route 21 in March 1997.

State police found the 24-year-old woman’s body buried in a shallow grave of mud near Lick Hollow State park in Hopwood. Martin had more than 20 stab wounds, her throat was cut and her skull was smashed in the attack.

Vernon filed death penalty notices in several cases over the last two years, but the notice was either withdrawn or jurors did not find the accused men guilty of first-degree murder. In the case of Gerald Powell, accused of killing Edward and Karen Povlik in 1995, jurors acquitted Powell of any involvement.

After that acquittal, Vernon withdrew death penalty notice filed against two other men. At the time, Vernon said doing so was part of her trial strategy and also commented that the mention of the death penalty at the start of the case could force jurors to want proof beyond all doubt of someone’s guilt.

The current standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.