Convict dies in prison
A Uniontown man sentenced to life in prison earlier this month for the 2006 beating death of his girlfriend has died. Walter Scott Fordyce, 60, died Saturday in Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Cumberland County.
Susan McNaughton, spokeswoman with the state Department of Corrections, said Tuesday that Fordyce died of natural causes.
“After arriving at Camp Hill, he was immediately admitted to the infirmary and was then taken to the hospital three days later, where he later died,” McNaughton said.
A Fayette County jury convicted Fordyce of first-degree murder Feb. 5 for beating his live-in girlfriend to death.
Judge John F. Wagner Jr. then sentenced him to life in prison following the verdict.
Fordyce testified during trial that he beat McCann following an argument over whether he would heat up a sandwich. He also testified that McCann got angry because he was watching the television show “Judge Judy.”
Jurors determined that Fordyce had a specific intent to kill Mary McCann, 54, at their home at 70 Carlisle St. in Uniontown on April 13, 2006. He threw a microwave at her following an argument, stomped on her chest and slammed her head off the floor.
McCann’s upper body was bruised, her ribs broken, liver lacerated and nose broken in the beating.
During trial, Assistant Public Defender Thomas W. Shaffer argued that Fordyce was too intoxicated to appreciate what he was doing, and should have been convicted of a lesser count of homicide. Fordyce testified that he consumed about 20 beers and eight anti-anxiety pills before beating McCann to death.
Fordyce suffered from extensive medical problems.