Man found guilty again for death of toddler
Franklin Weimer was sent back to prison Friday after a second Fayette County jury found him guilty of third-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Zachary Johnson. Weimer, 33, of Hopwood, sat expressionless as the verdict was read, and he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs by constables after Judge Gerald R. Solomon revoked his bond.
Prosecutors alleged Weimer beat Johnson with a shower brush Jan. 24, 1998, shortly after the child’s mother, Julie Johnson Marinelli, left for work at 11:05 p.m. Zachary Johnson was the son of Johnson Marinelli and Mark Rambo Jr.
Several court constables and two Uniontown police officers secured the courtroom after the verdicts were read, lining the aisle so that Johnson’s family could leave safely after members of Weimer’s family yelled obscenities and lunged toward them.
Johnson Marinelli had a difficult time speaking after the verdict as she sobbed, hugging her mother and other family members. Pointing to a pin of her son that was fixed to her jacket, Johnson Marinelli said she felt her son in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
“It was cold and rainy all week, and today there was a beam of sun,” she said.
The beam hit her and her mother, Rose Mary Johnson, both of whom were fixtures during the weeklong trial.
“I felt like Zachary was there with us,” said Johnson Marinelli, crying.
All of Johnson’s family members said they were relieved that the trial, Weimer’s second for the 27-month-old’s death, was over.
Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr., who prosecuted Weimer nearly five years ago, said he felt the verdict was justified.
“I think justice has been done for Zachary,” said Heneks, with the agreement of co-prosecutor Mark Mehalov.
In 1998, Weimer was convicted of the same charges. However, the state Superior Court overturned the verdict after determining that Solomon should have allowed the defense to present medical testimony in that trial.
In his closing remarks, Weimer’s attorney, George Matangos, asked jurors to acquit his client based on defense medical testimony that he believed proved Johnson’s injuries were accidental.
Dr. Wayne Ross, a Lancaster County forensic neuro-pathologist, testified that the injuries to Johnson’s head were caused when Weimer was swinging Johnson around and his head struck a table leg.
However, two commonwealth medical experts testified that they believed Johnson’s injuries were from direct blows to the head, possibly with the wooden shower brush police took from the home.
“I really thought we had answers to some of the questions that were out there,” Matangos said after the verdict was read.
He noted that he truly believes that Weimer never intended to harm Johnson.
“Ultimately, Frank has been convicted on his lies,” said Matangos.
When police questioned Weimer about Johnson’s injuries, he repeatedly told them that the child fell down three steps, the same as he told a 911 operator.
Only after police confronted him with the shower brush did Weimer tell them that he was swinging Johnson around by an arm and leg, got dizzy and hit the toddler’s head into a wall.
Police testified Weimer never mentioned Johnson’s head hitting a table leg, which is what Ross’ theory of the injuries is based upon.
In his closing remarks, Matangos asked jurors not to read too much into Weimer’s lies to police about how Johnson was injured.
“If this was a case about criminal charges about lying, I wouldn’t even stand up here because you’d have to convict Frank Weimer of lying,” Matangos said.
He argued that Weimer lied to Johnson and then others in an attempt to keep the boy’s mother in his life because he loved her. On several occasions, Matangos questioned Weimer’s intelligence.
“Frankly, I don’t think Frank Weimer has the ability to delve into too many mental states,” Matangos said, noting Weimer’s “gruff voice” on the 911 tape played for jurors on the first day of testimony.
But Heneks told jurors that Weimer was “cunning” in lies told to cover up his guilt in hurting the toddler.
“If this were truly just playing with Zachary … and it’s all a horrible accident, wouldn’t you tell the mother, the 911 operator, the paramedics and the doctors who are going to treat this child what happened? Wouldn’t you tell everyone available what happened in hopes of saving him? (Weimer) didn’t because he knew what he did,” Heneks said.
The prosecutor acknowledged that no one is certain that the shower brush presented as evidence is what Weimer used to hit the child, but he said Weimer could have disposed of the murder weapon.
“If he were truly without malice in this case, why would he lie? He had a dark, deep secret, the truth, that he wanted to hide,” Heneks said.
He also pointed out to jurors that Johnson Marinelli testified that Weimer seemed uneasy about the close relationship she had with her son.
Heneks suggested that Weimer may have felt that Johnson got in the way in his relationship with Johnson Marinelli.
“In those 10 or 15 minutes after Julie Johnson went to work, no one except Mr. Weimer and Zachary Johnson know what happened. Unfortunately, Zachary Johnson isn’t here to tell us,” said Heneks.
Solomon also charged jurors on involuntary manslaughter and homicide by misadventure, both of which the panel rejected in convicting Weimer of third-degree murder.
After his first trial, Weimer was sentenced to 221/2 to 45 years in prison.
He is scheduled to be sentenced for this verdict next Friday and will receive credit for time served on the sentence before his case was overturned in 2000.