Plea deal rejected in Nicholson Twp. home invasion case
A Fayette County judge rejected a North Union Township man’s guilty plea in a case involving the brutal assault of a Nicholson Township woman, saying the offer didn’t include a stiff enough jail sentence.
Michael Nicholas Weber, 24, was one of two men charged with burglary, aggravated assault and related charges after first responders found Wanda Wokulich beaten and bloody, her home on Konicki Road ransacked, shortly before 3 a.m. on November 21.
Weber came before Judge Nancy D. Vernon on Tuesday to enter guilty pleas in this and two other burglary cases in exchange for a six to 12 year prison sentence.
“Six to 12 years isn’t enough for three burglaries and half-killing a woman,” said Vernon before directing the district attorney’s office to put the case back on the trial list.
Weber’s accomplice, Walter Garfield Myers, 35, of Lake Lynn, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to five and a half to 11 years in prison. Weber is Myers’ nephew.
Police said the incident began when Fayette County 911 received a hangup emergency call from Wokulich’s home at 2:55 a.m.
Police said when they arrived at Wokulich’s home they found the front door had been forced open, and found the woman in her bed, suffering severe facial and head injuries.
According to police, Myers told investigators that he and Weber were driving around that morning looking for houses to burglarize and forced their way into the basement of Wokulich’s home.
Once inside, Myers said Weber retrieved a spade shovel from the basement, went into Wokulich’s bedroom and beat her in the face with the tool, according to testimony from a preliminary hearing.
Myers reportedly told police Weber struck Wokulich so that she wouldn’t be able to identify them.