The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari filed by Richard Roland Laird, upholding his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence for the 1987 murder of artist Anthony Milano in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. The decision marks the conclusion of Laird’s final federal appeal in the case, formally titled Richard Roland Laird v. Laurel Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al.
Laird’s petition was an appeal of a federal habeas corpus ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, representing the Respondents, had filed a Brief in Opposition, urging the Supreme Court to deny the petition and maintain Laird’s conviction and sentence.
Laird, of Bristol Township, and his accomplice Frank Chester were first convicted and sentenced in 1989 for the brutal killing of 26-year-old Milano. Milano was kidnapped, repeatedly slashed, and beaten before his body was discovered in a wooded area near Venice Ashby; his vehicle had been set on fire. The case was historically significant as the first in the U.S. where a conviction and death sentence were secured for a murder motivated by anti-gay bias.
A federal appeals court later overturned the initial convictions, granting retrials due to procedural errors. Chester accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to murder in exchange for a life sentence. In 2007, a second Bucks County jury convicted Laird and again imposed the death sentence, prosecuted by then-District Attorney Michelle Henry.
Over the years, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Appellate Unit worked to ensure the jury-imposed death sentence remained intact. District Attorney Jennifer Schorn stated, “The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari confirms the validity of Richard Roland Laird’s conviction and sentence. This decision is a crucial step toward bringing closure to the family and loved ones of Anthony Milano, who have waited decades for justice to be finally and irrevocably served.”
Deputy District Attorney John T. Fegley, Chief of Appeals for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, served as Counsel of Record for the Respondents.
