Uniontown man found guilty of third-degree murder in ‘love triangle’ homicide
A jury found Wiley Estill Gambrel guilty of third-degree murder and all other charges filed against him after about 3 1/2 hours of deliberation Monday in the death of James “Jay” Plance.
Gambrel, 59, shot the 45-year-old man in the head July 18 in front of the victim’s girlfriend, stuffed his body into a cardboard box, loaded it onto his van with a dolly and dumped it at his Georges Township HVAC shop.
The seven-woman, five-man jury heard five days of testimony about Plance’s death, stemming from a drug-fueled love triangle. Plance and his girlfriend, Deana Jean Hughes, 34, traded sex with Gambrel for crack cocaine. The jury saw 155 pieces of evidence from the commonwealth and heard from about three dozen witnesses in the trial.
Plance’s family appeared anxious and tearful as they awaited news of the verdict in the courtroom. They exchanged glances as the verdict was read and did not comment following the announcement.
Gambrel took a deep breath as he walked to his seat before the verdict was announced.
He was also found guilty of abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and person not to possess a firearm.
His attorney, assistant public defender Michael Aubele, said he will file an appeal on Gambrel’s behalf.
“We disagree with the jury’s verdict, but we certainly respect their decision,” he said.
He asserted at trial his client gave police a false confession. Gambrel took the stand Friday saying Hughes shot Plance. He claimed he took responsibility to protect her.
Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower said the verdict shows the jury believed the commonwealth met its burden of proof and did not believe the story of the false confession.
“As a result, justice has been served,” he said.
During closing arguments, Aubele attempted to poke holes in the commonwealth’s narrative and restated Gambrel gave a false confession to protect Hughes.
He contended a conflict began at the 280 Ringer Road trailer in Smithfield when Plance began acting “eccentric” under the influence of crack cocaine.
“Deana said something to upset him, and he put his hands on her, like he had done many times in the past,” Aubele said.
Recounting Gambrel’s testimony, he said Hughes waived the rifle toward Plance and “inadvertently or intentionally” pulled the trigger.
He addressed inconsistencies with Hughes’ statements to police, including identifying the shooter twice as a different man. He questioned why Hughes, who testified her inconsistencies were due to fear, never ran away from Gambrel or called 911. He asserted Gambrel was not “obsessed” with Hughes, and instead, said the couple was “taking advantage” of him.
“The problem, ladies and gentleman, is she never cared about him. He was being played,” Aubele said.
Aubele contended gunshot residue found on Gambrel’s hands was from dismantling the gun shortly before police arrested him at his 3540 Morgantown Road shop, where he stashed the body. Aubele argued the gun was always in the trailer and belonged to the couple, pointing to evidence of messages Hughes sent about purchasing a gun, and of shotgun shell boxes at the trailer.
Aubele portrayed Gambrel as a “hardworking, contributing member of society,” contrasting him with Hughes and Plance, who lived on Social Security Income. He said they used Gambrel for drugs and money.
“Now Wiley should have known better, but Wiley was a lonely guy. He had no friends,” he said.
After spending nearly one year in Fayette County Prison, he said Gambrel retracted his confession because he realized the couple was taking advantage of him.
“He realized that she wasn’t worth giving his life up over,” he said.
Bower said at closing arguments the jury should return a first-degree murder conviction. He told the members of the jury not to throw away their common sense. He spoke about “consciousness of guilt,” saying the actions Gambrel admitted on the stand — including cleaning up the crime scene, putting the body in a cardboard box and dismantling the gun — demonstrated he was guilty of killing Plance.
He explained the shotgun shell boxes were in the trailer because Gambrel lived in the trailer with the couple from April to June. In Gambrel’s statement to police, he knew specifics about the rifle and that it was loaded.
Bower read from the transcript of Gambrel’s statement to state police. When they asked if he killed Plance, “Without hesitation, the defendant said, ‘Yes,'” Bower said.
When asked for more details, Gambrel responded, “Ain’t no sense in lying about it.”
Gambrel spoke of his feelings for Hughes several times during the statement.
“I did have feelings for her. I don’t deny it to anybody,” Bower said, reading Gambrel’s words from the transcript.
He addressed Hughes’ inconsistent statements, saying people can do illogical and irrational things when they are scared.
“She had just seen the man she loved shot and killed by the defendant,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter that they’re on SSI, and it doesn’t matter that he’s a hardworking individual. Hardworking individuals kill people.”
During Gambrel’s testimony Friday, Bower asked about a text he sent June 24, saying, “Approximately 3 1/2 weeks before you killed James Plance?” Gambrel answered, “Yes.”
“He confessed, right in front of you, that he killed James Plance,” Bower said to the jury.
Bower addressed a text Plance sent to Gambrel a few hours before the shooting, saying, “I think it’s best to end the friendship.”
When Gambrel held the gun to Plance’s head, he said, “I’m sorry that it has to end this way,” Bower said.
Gambrel will be sentenced at 3 p.m. Wednesday before Judge Steve P. Leskinen.