Modery found guilty of Swearingen homicide
WASHINGTON – Several jurors wiped their eyes, relatives of Ira Swearingen sobbed openly, but defendant Gregory Modery, his wife and mother-in-law showed no emotion as the verdict against him was read. The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for five hours Tuesday and an additional hour Wednesday morning before deciding that Modery was guilty of first-degree murder as the accomplice in Swearingen’s Dec. 12, 1999, death.
Swearingen was kidnapped from the area near the adult bookstore at the Kammerer exit of Interstate 70, beaten robbed and shot to death. Alexander Martos, 35, formerly of Monongahela and Bentleyville, has confessed to the shooting.
The jury foreman first read the verdict, then it was confirmed by each individual juror.
Modery, 32, of McMurray was found guilty of six of the seven charges against him: first-degree homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault causing serious bodily harm and conspiracy to commit robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping. The jury found Modery not guilty of aggravated assault using a deadly weapon.
“We were very surprised at the verdict, given the abundance of reasonable doubt we established,” said Fred Rabner, Modery’s defense attorney.
Rabner said he will now focus on the next phase of the trial, which is the penalty phase, and on preparing an appeal. First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. The jury could also decide that instead of life in prison, Modery should be sentenced to death. Testimony in the penalty phase will begin Friday at 9 a.m.
“This has been a good jury. They were careful enough to say not guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. We hadn’t presented any testimony against this man for assault with a deadly weapon,” said District Attorney John Pettit.
Pettit said finally receiving a verdict in the month-long trial was rewarding, but it was not a happy day.
“There is no way to take great satisfaction in knowing what you’ve done to another individual. This man is going to be in prison for the rest of his life or worse,” Pettit said.
Pettit said that at this point, he is planning to seek the death penalty when the penalty phase begins Friday, though that may change following discussions with the Swearingen family. He said it has not yet been decided if any members of the Swearingen family will testify as part of the impact statement from the victims.
“We have to show at least one aggravating circumstance and it must outweigh any mitigating circumstance,” Pettit said.
Pettit said he will focus on the torture aspect of the crime.
“The torture will be the manner in which Ira was treated, the ride from the bookstore to (Robert) Petrick’s, from Petrick’s to Greene County and the manner in which they took his clothing,” Pettit said.
Swearingen was stripped naked and his clothing and possessions burned before he was driven in the trunk of his rental vehicle to a remote area of Greene County and shot.
Pettit said that the defense will probably present mitigating circumstances such as Modery’s wife and daughter, the fact that he has had no prior arrests and anything else good they can present about him. Pettit said it’s not surprising Modery didn’t have prior arrests.
“He’s a schemer. He plans, then steps back out of the camera, out of harm’s way and lets someone else get their picture on the surveillance camera,” Pettit said.
Swearingen was a medical consultant on his way to Uniontown Hospital to assist with joint replacement surgery when he was killed.
“Ira Swearingen came to this area to help relieve someone’s pain,” Pettit said. “This defendant’s goal as we can see it was to inflict pain. He didn’t need money. He wanted to inflict pain.”
Pettit said he anticipates pleas in the cases of a number of the codefendants such as Petrick, John Shaker and Sean Wolowski who all testified in the case. Pettit said he is still considering whether or not to pull his plea agreement with codefendant Debra Levandosky.
Gretchen McGlone, Swearingen’s sister and next-door-neighbor, expressed her gratitude to everyone who helped in the case, including the district attorney’s office staff, the state police, the dive teams who found the murder weapon and all the members of the general public who helped search for her brother.
“As far as the verdict, we couldn’t be more pleased. As for the sentencing, we want to see this man in prison for as long as possible,” McGlone said. “One day of my brother’s life was worth more than 32 years of Gregory Modery’s life. He helped more people every day.”
McGlone related how the morning before her brother was killed he had brought holiday greenery to her home to make wreaths for their parents’ and sister’s graves. In the trunk of his car at the Ohio airport he left from on Dec. 12 was a Sega Dreamcast he had purchased for their great-nephew who is being raised by another sister. It was a present the boy had wanted but said he wouldn’t ask his grandmother for because it was too expensive.
“That morning Ira told me ‘As long as I’m alive, those children will never do without,'” McGlone said of her brother. “He lived another 12 hours that we can tell.”
McGlone said her brother was an outgoing and generous man who would have given Martos and Modery any money they needed if they had just asked him.
“When you met my brother, you were his friend. That’s the way he made you feel,” McGlone said.
Her husband, George McGlone, praised the work of the Pennsylvania State Police. He said his brother-in-law’s disappearance and the use of his credit cards were explained to the state troopers on Dec. 16., 1999, and by 1 p.m. on Dec. 17, Martos and Modery were in custody.
“The verdict confirms my faith in the people of Pennsylvania,” George McGlone said.
Another of Swearingen’s sisters, Pat Coleman, said her brother was her best friend.
“I can’t say I’m happy today, but justice has been served. I hope it serves as an example to others like Martos and Modery,” Coleman said.