May 19, 2002 By Patty Shultz 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – Joseph P. Minerd dropped his head to his chest Friday when a federal court clerk read a guilty verdict, while his family, who was sitting two rows behind him, broke into tears. Minerd, 46, of Bullskin Township, was convicted of malicious destruction of property by means of fire and explosion and causing the Jan. 1, 1999, deaths of Deana Kay Mitts of Connellsville and her 3-year-old daughter, Kayla Ashley Mitts. Deana Mitts was about eight months pregnant with Minerd’s child at the time of her death.

Jurors were instructed to return to the courtroom Monday, when they will hear testimony in the penalty phase of the trial. The government is seeking the death penalty.

The prosecution must prove that the death penalty should be imposed, while the defense is not required to present testimony. Each side is permitted to offer witnesses in support of its case.

If the jury cannot unanimously agree to the death penalty, Minerd will serve a life sentence without parole.

Mitts’ parents, Earl and Pauline Mitts, and their eldest daughter, Darla Dieter, embraced as the verdict of the 10-woman, two-man jury was read shortly after noon.

Minutes later, they and the Minerd family met in the courtroom aisle to share their sorrow and offer support.

“This was not their fault,” Pauline Mitts said as she made

her way to embrace the Minerd family matriarch, Emma Jean Minerd.

The two families are acquainted through their joint membership at the Greenwood Heights Church in Connellsville.

“We love our families, we love God and we love each other,” Mitts said of her relationship with the Minerd family. “This has been hard on everyone.”

Over the course of the trial, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Evelyn Stillwagon, along with other church members, attended each court session to support the two families.

“I’ve always said that no matter how it turned out, there would be hurt,” said Rev. Stillwagon.

She said the congregation has never veered in its continued aid to both families through prayer and consolation.

Since the start of jury selection in April, members have volunteered to pray one hour each day for the families, jurors, legal counsel, prosecutors and the judge.

“There has been someone praying every hour of every day for all of the people involved in this case,” she said.

Each Minerd and Mitts family member moved through the center courtroom aisle to offer words of encouragement and share grief with one another after the verdict.

“We’ll walk out of here together,” said a distraught James Minerd Sr. as he led his frail mother from her location and took the hand of Pauline Mitts.

“We’ve been here the whole time together and we’ll leave together.”

U.S. Senior District Judge Maurice B. Cohill, who presided over the trial, instructed the prosecutor and defense counsel to continue to abide by a gag order he issued in February.

Both Shaun E. Sweeney, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District, and Minerd’s legal counsel, attorney, Jay T. McCamic, referred to the order when declining to comment after the verdict.

Over the eight-day trial jurors listened to testimony from 32 prosecution witnesses and eight defense witnesses.

According to the witnesses, Minerd and Deana Mitts were engaged just two weeks after they began dating.

After Mitts announced her pregnancy three months later, Minerd insisted she have an abortion because he was uncertain as to the child’s paternity.

When she refused to comply with the request, the relationship ended.

Several witnesses, including Pauline Mitts, testified that Minerd then began stalking Deana Mitts.

In November 1998, investigators believe, Minerd began to plan her death when he purchased pipe bomb components at a Scottdale hardware store.

Defense witnesses testified to Minerd’s whereabouts the day before the explosion, but they could not account for a five-hour period during the early morning hours of Jan. 1, 1999.

The two sides presented closing arguments Wednesday, when jurors began deliberations, but the panel was instructed to halt their discussions Thursday when one member could no longer carry out his jury duty due to the shooting death of his son.

An alternate juror that had been dismissed by Cohill after the conclusion of the trial filled the vacancy.