Accused killer questions his attorney in a letter
A North Union Township man facing a criminal homicide charge is claiming his case is getting more attention than that of another slaying case from 2012 because it was “a black crime,” according to a letter he wrote to his attorney last week.
Henry Clay Crawford, 56, was charged with criminal homicide after police responded to a call at Lisa Tupta’s North Union Township home on Jan. 28 and discovered Tupta suffering from stab wounds Crawford allegedly inflicted. She was taken to Uniontown Hospital, where she later died.
In a handwritten letter dated May 31, Crawford told Fayette County Public Defender Jeffrey Whiteko, “You may think I’m dumb or just (don’t) know anything but I do know this, I/we have a high-profile case. I think my case has a higher profile than Commonwealth vs. Smith.”
“Well I’m sure you know this case,” he went on, “but if you don’t, I will let you know what case it is. This is the case of my son, Marlin H. Crawford.”
The case he was referring to is that of Kurtavius Jermon Smith, 27, of Uniontown, who was charged with criminal homicide and carrying a firearm without a license for his alleged role in the shooting death of Marlin H. “Zeus” Crawford, 28, also of Uniontown, on May 13, 2012, outside Pershing Court in Uniontown.
His attorney, Charles Hoebler, came before the court in March asking for the charges against Smith to be thrown out and to suppress statements that Smith reportedly made to police following his arrest. Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon denied those requests following a hearing. Smith was scheduled for trial during this month’s term but his case was continued Monday.
Henry Crawford theorized in his letter that his case is more of a high-profile one than Smith’s because “the killing of my son was a black crime in a black neighborhood,” adding that “no one really cares about black-on-black crime.” Tupta was white.
Henry Crawford alleged in the letter that his attorney has not been considering his best interests, noting that his case was scheduled to go before Judge Nancy D. Vernon before she recused herself May 24. Vernon was the district attorney during a time period when Henry Crawford came before the court on about 10 separate criminal offenses, including aggravated assaults.
According to Henry Crawford, if his attorney fails to meet with him about the case, he “will not show to any appearance.”
“I will not do whatever I need to do,” he added. “So the ball in your court.”
He also asked for a copy of all the evidence in discovery, whether it’s 1,100 pages or 11,000.
“We need to talk,” he wrote. “I don’t mean a run for five minutes. You need to tell me what’s happening, if you have some kind of game plan.
“I am not demanding this, it may sound like it, but I’m pleading with you,” he went on. “But I can assure you if we don’t meet and you and I don’t have a talk, I would make this a living hell for all of us.”
Henry Crawford indicated that he was not getting attention from the investigator on the case, nor the clerk of courts.
“The things that I have asked for may not mean anything to you or her but they do to me, and I should (have) had them,” he wrote.
“There is so much I have asked for,” he wrote. “Remember this is my life.”
Henry Crawford is in Fayette County Prison without bond.
Whiteko has petitioned the court for an evaluation and determination of his competency to stand trial.