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Shaw sentenced to life without parole
By ROB CAROLUS
Staff Writer
February 24, 2007
Nathan Shaw said he’d “pray for” the members of 6-year-old Jared Klein’s family while he’s in prison for the boy’s murder. Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron later informed Shaw he’d have a lifetime to do it.
“I’d like to apologize to Christina (Muoio) and her family,” an icy and unconvincing Shaw said as he testified during his sentencing hearing Friday at Blair County Court in Hollidaysburg. “I know I caused you guys so much pain.”
The convicted rapist and child killer was officially sentenced to life without parole for the first-degree stabbing death of Klein. He also received consecutive sentences totaling close to 50 additional years in state lock up for other charges related to the night-after-Christmas attacks against both Klein and his mother at their Tyrone apartment in 2005.
“I did love Jared. I never meant to hurt him,” Shaw said, delivering statements reminiscent of his sometimes shocking testimony during the murder trial. “I know you want me to die, to suffer, and I want you to know you’ll be in my prayers.
“I can only hope someday you’ll forgive me.”
Judge Milliron pulled no punches when addressing Shaw following victim impact statements delivered by Jared’s two grandmothers and two aunts.
The boy’s mother, Muoio, was present for the hearing, but did not deliver a statement.
“During the entire course of this trial, you’ve been treated with respect,” Milliron said to Shaw prior to conveying his sentence. “But I must tell you I find you disgusting. Your actions that night fall far below what is expected in a civilized world.
“Thinking back to your testimony during your trial, as you gave your account of what happened that night, it’s my judgment that none of it was true.”
Milliron went on to tell Shaw that he’d prefer to give him the maximum sentence for each of his crimes, but that bringing the matter to a close would be much more important.
“The Muoio family deserves closure,” the judge said, “and I want them to have that.
“Of course, your first-degree murder conviction carries with it an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. As for the other charges, I would prefer to give you the maximum sentences allowed by law, but I do not want to leave any room for an appeal of these sentences in the appellate courts. Therefore, I intend to sentence you at the height of the aggravated range.”
On top of the life sentence for Jared’s murder, Shaw was given in total an additional 24 years, 10 months to 49 years, eight months for numerous counts of aggravated assault, rape, theft and indecent assault. All of Shaw’s sentences will run consecutive.
Milliron explained that the stiff sentences were based on several criteria, stating that Shaw remains a “danger to society.” The judge said he considered the “mental cruelty” administered to both Klein and Muoio during the assaults and the fact that Shaw was “under supervision” of probation at the time when rendering his decision.
He also noted that Shaw is a “poor candidate for rehabilitation,” pointing out the young boy Shaw killed “trusted and cared for” the defendant as his father.
“As of today, we’ve had 424 days to think about what you did that night,” said Peggy Miller, Jared’s maternal grandmother. She was the first to deliver a victim impact statement and she did so a mere three feet away from the killer. Her prepared statements were printed on the back of a full color photograph of Klein, which Shaw was forced to look at as Miller gave her statement. “You’re a cold-hearted baby killer and a rapist. You’re nothing but a monster.
“Let’s not forget the one and only witness to what you did — Angel, Jared’s sister. She saw everything. She saw you beat her mother and her big brother. She saw you smash her mother’s face in beyond recognition.
She remembers you telling her to ‘stop whining’ as you beat her mom and her brother and she also remembers Jared telling her not to cry, and that he loved her.
“She remembers when you went to the kitchen to get the knife and she remembers you picking Jared up by his hair and stabbing him in the neck.
She relives these nightmares every day of her life.
“When you are rotting in hell, it will be the happiest day of my life.”
Following the proceedings, Blair County public defender Theodore Krol said, as expected, that Shaw has already requested an appeal of his first-degree murder conviction. The defense has 30 days from sentencing to file for an appeal.
Meanwhile, Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio said he hopes for the sake of the victims’ family that does not happen.
“There’s no merit for an appeal,” Consiglio said. “This case, as with every other capital murder case I’ve been witness to in Blair County, was totally clean.”
When asked if he thought the sentences were harsh enough, Consiglio replied, “This guy deserved to die. He’s disgusting. He’s evil. But, the jury couldn’t come together on the death penalty.
“In light of that, the judge’s decisions were very appropriate.”
Shaw expected to appeal murder conviction
By ROB CAROLUS
Staff Writer
January 26, 2007
Attorneys for convicted child killer Nathan Shaw say the former Tyrone resident will appeal his first-degree murder conviction. Lead counsel for the defense told The Daily Herald in an interview Wednesday, just 7 days after Shaw was convicted of murdering 6-year-old Jared Klein of Tyrone, that his client is already talking about his next day in court.
“I don’t think there’s a defendant that is tried through the judicial system who does not seek an appeal,” said Blair County public defender Theodore Krol. “(Shaw) firmly believes he’ll be able to get a manslaughter conviction through an appeal, based largely on the time of deliberation associated with the first degree murder conviction.
“That jury was in there for 9 hours.”
Shaw was convicted last week for the brutal beatings of Klein and his mother, Christina Muoio. He earned life in prison for stabbing the young boy to death with a kitchen knife during the fracas. Shaw was also found guilty of raping Muoio and stealing her car the same night.
Jared’s murder happened the night after Christmas 2005, just weeks after Shaw was released from a lengthy prison stay. He had served 18 months after battering Muoio on another occasion.
Krol said he’ll have some work to do before filing an appeal with superior court, and he’ll have some time to do that.
“During the trial, just about every legal argument we made, we prevailed in,” the attorney said. “I have not yet determined what area or areas are valid to appeal – there are very few – but there’s always something.
“The superior courts look at everything very closely.”
Krol suggested that an appeal based on a change of venue may be possible, due to the press coverage of the Klein killing and leading up to the subsequent trial. Though, the attorney noted, that may be tough.
“I thought we found a fairly isolated jury (for the trial),” Krol said.
“Again, we’ve got some things to look over.”
Before Shaw’s defense team may file an appeal, Judge Daniel Milliron, who presided over Shaw’s murder trial, must schedule a sentencing hearing for his convictions, something that has not yet happened.
Following the sentencing, the defense has 30 days to file an appeal.
Once the appeal is filed, Judge Milliron will file a statement, at which time Krol’s team would respond, citing the area or areas of appeal.
This process could take several months.
“Nathan (Shaw) feels that the lengthy deliberation during his trial is a strong indication that he may be able to get a conviction on a lesser charge,” Krol said.
Nathan Shaw guilty of first degree murder
By ROB CAROLUS
Daily News Staff Writer
January 19, 2007
Former Tyrone resident Nathan Todd Shaw looked square in the eyes of a Blair County jury and pled his case.
“I would never hurt Jared,” he said as tears rolled down his cheeks. “I loved him. He was my son.”
As he took the stand in his own defense, Shaw told a tale of a “mystery man” he heard arguing with his ex-girlfriend upstairs in her two-story townhouse the evening of Dec. 26, 2005. He explained, as his face turned a deep shade of red, how he quickly went into Christina Muoio’s kitchen and retrieved a large knife, then hurried up the stairs in order to come to the aid of her and her son, Jared.
The jury wasn’t buying it, however, as evidenced by its verdict rendered some nine hours after being presented with the case on Thursday.
Near 1 a.m. this morning, following an elongated deliberation period, the decision was issued: Guilty on all counts, including first degree murder for the stabbing death of six-year-old Jared Klein.
Aside from first degree murder, Shaw was also convicted of numerous other charges including two counts of aggravated assault - one for the attack on Muoio and one for the beating of Klein - rape, unlawful restraint and theft of an automobile.
Shaw’s version of the events that led to Jared’s death was decidedly different than the story told by Jared’s mother during testimony two days earlier. Shaw told of a conversation he’d had with the boy he called “son” in the days leading up to the night-after-Christmas attacks, during which Jared said his mother had a “new boyfriend who makes her cry.”
Shaw said he’d come to Tyrone that night to confront the man ... and he brought along a roll of duct tape for the occasion.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I was gonna hurt this guy,” he said to the jury.
“He was trying to keep me from seeing my children. I was gonna tie him up and confront him - he had no right telling me I couldn’t come to Chrissy’s (Muoio) house to see my kids.”
During his testimony, the defendant said the alleged new boyfriend, who Shaw identified as apartment manager of the Tyrone Townhouses where Muoio resided, had sent a letter stating Shaw was no longer allowed on the townhouse property. Shaw explained that this angered him, claiming the apartment manager was only doing it because of the relationship he’d kindled with Shaw’s estranged girlfriend Muoio.
Muoio denies having a relationship with the apartment manager.
Shaw testified that during the first minutes of his unannounced visit to the Muoio residence on Dec. 26, both Klein and Muoio went upstairs, then minutes later, he heard a commotion coming from above. He said he heard Muoio and a “man” arguing and that’s when he went for a knife.
“I ran up the steps as fast as I could,” Shaw testified. “When I got to the top of the steps and turned the corner, Jared was coming the other direction and we ran into each other - the knife was in my hand.
“I knocked him down, into the wall, and fell on top of him,” Shaw continued. “I saw the knife in his neck, I didn’t know what to do. I never meant to hurt him.
“I took Jared downstairs to the living room and tried to give him CPR,” Shaw said as he tearfully continued with his account of that tragic December night. “I started blowing into his mouth, pounding on his chest, but nothing worked. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Shaw said the “man” then came downstairs, saw Jared’s body and “ran out” of the apartment, never looking back.
During prosecution rebuttal, the townhouse manager and his wife were both called as witnesses. They testified that on the night of the murder, they were no where near Tyrone; they were on the other side of the continent in Los Angeles visiting family over the holidays and that they’d received the report of the murder on a cell phone while waiting for a flight at Los Angeles International Airport.
According to Shaw, when Muoio came downstairs and saw her son lying dead on the living room floor, she “lost it.”
“She started screaming, ‘you killed my son!’” Shaw said. “She was hysterical. I tried to explain to her what happened - that it was an accident - but she wouldn’t hear it. She kept saying she was calling the cops and I’d be going to jail for the rest of my life.
“I was scared. I panicked and I hit her. I don’t deny it.”
Shaw admitted to tearing all three of Muoio’s telephones out of the wall and to striking her “numerous times.” He also confessed to taping her mouth and wrists with duct tape, because she was “out of control” and “wouldn’t stop screaming.”
He then told the jury that he carried her upstairs and placed her on her bed. That’s when Shaw’s account of the night took a hard left turn.
“She was really scared and feared for her life,” he said. “She thought I was going to kill her, so she said, ‘get me off one last time before you kill me.’ That’s when I had sex with her. She asked me to.”
This testimony was answered by a chorus of groans throughout the courtroom. Even Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio reacted to the statement, angrily throwing a pen down on the prosecution table and shaking his head.
Defense attorney Theodore Krol did what he could to present a case for a lesser charge of third degree murder or involuntary manslaughter, calling into question the Wednesday testimony of forensic pathologist Dr. Gordon Handte who performed Klein’s autopsy. Krol was able to get Handte to admit that Shaw’s version of the stabbing was “possible” but the medical examiner qualified the statement during Attorney Consiglio’s rebuttal by saying it was “not likely.”
“I submit that the prosecution has not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Krol said during closing arguments. “There was no specific intent to kill. This was clearly a tragic accident; a case of involuntary manslaughter. This man was a loving father to Jared and never meant to cause harm that night.”
“An accident?!? An accident?!? Please,” said Consiglio during his closing remarks. “Hate and control had a lot to do with this boy’s
death. He couldn’t stand the thought of Christina having a relationship with someone else. It just so happened that Mr. Shaw showed up unannounced that night. It just so happened that he had a roll of duct tape with him. It just so happened that he was running up the stairs and Jared was running in the other direction. It just so happened that the knife accidentally hit Jared in the jugular vein. It just so happened that all three of the phones in the house were ripped from the walls after this accident, instead of using them to dial 911.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit that he did what he did intentionally and I ask that you find this defendant guilty of first
degree murder.”
When the verdict was read early this morning, Shaw could be heard saying, “What happened to justice? I told the truth.”
The penalty phase of the trial begins today and prosecutors will seek death for Shaw.
Jury spares killer
BY KATHY MELLOTT
The Tribune-Democrat
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County jury failed to reach a unanimous decision Friday evening between life in prison and death by lethal injection for a Tyrone man convicted of the first-degree murder of Jared Klein.
The hung jury essentially spared the life of Nathan Shaw, 27. State law requires that Judge Daniel Milliron now sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Initial word of the hung jury came about 2 1/2 hours into deliberations, with the foreman telling Milliron he saw no hope of the 12 reaching an agreement.
Milliron asked each one to re-examine his or her position if possible and ordered jurors back into deliberations.
The jury returned 11/2 hours later, again unable to reach a consensus. Milliron then dismissed the jurors.
The reaction was mixed from the family of Jared, the 6-year-old boy who died Dec. 26, 2005, of a knife wound to the neck.
“(Shaw) should have died. My son didn’t have a choice, but of course, that piece of (expletive) does,” said Jared’s mother, Christine Muoio.
The boy’s uncle said he was satisfied with the outcome of the four-day trial that ended with the first-degree murder conviction in the wee hours Friday. Pat Muoio said, “At least he got life, that’s what I wanted.”
Shaw’s grandmother, Phyllis Shaw of Tyrone, was pleased with the stalemate.
“We’re relieved. We didn’t want him to get the death penalty,” she said.
Christine Muoio was the victim of a brutal rape and beating at Shaw’s hands the night he murdered her son.
Shaw will be formally sentenced by Milliron on a date to be scheduled.
Prior to that date, a presentence investigation will look at Shaw’s criminal past, a background that was kept from the jury.
It will show that, two weeks prior to the murder, Shaw was released from prison and living in a Johnstown halfway house, the result of 2004 charges that he assaulted Christine Muoio and a Tyrone police officer.
Death-penalty counsel Steven Passarello made an impassioned plea asking the jury to spare Shaw’s life as he methodically ticked off the steps that would be taken should Shaw be put to death.
Despite having children 4 and 10 years of age and having lost a child to a premature death, Passarello said, he defended Shaw because he believes in the system that gives jurors the right to choose life over death.
“I believe we are a people quicker to mercy than we are to revenge,” he said.
Passarello’s pleas were countered by an emotional statement from Christine Muoio outlining the impact of Jared’s death.
She spoke of him having just one day to play with new Christmas toys and of the words which echo in her mind, his young voice pleading with Shaw to stop hurting him and his mother.
“Jared was learning how to play the guitar. He wanted to be a rock star,” she said. “Jared wanted to be a lot of things, but most of all he wanted to be alive.”
As part of the aggravating factors the jury had to consider, district attorney Richard Consiglio outlined the young age of the child, which makes the murder much harsher, according to state law.
Also on the scale of aggravating factors was Shaw’s rape of his former girlfriend. He also had beaten Muoio after she refused a Christmas gift from him.
The mitigating factors raised by the defense portrayed Shaw as abandoned by his mother at age 3 and raised by a single father who worked long hours, drank heavily and smoked marijuana.
His father, Gary Shaw of Tyrone, spoke of his son’s early years and how his son got involved in alcohol and drugs at age 13.
His mother, Lorrie Howard of Clinton County, said she fled a violent household, taking Nathan Shaw with her but returning him to his father less than a year later.
Her court appearance was the first time she has seen her son since he was 12.
“He hasn’t had a good life because of me,” Howard said.
The only expert testimony in the penalty phase hearing was from Dr. Marc Tabackman, a forensic psychologist, who examined Shaw and determined he had developmental problems – perhaps because his mother drank and used drugs while pregnant.
Testifying for the defense, Tabackman said Shaw was impacted negatively by an unstable home and lack of a mother, and continues to have attention deficit disorder.
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Shaw sentenced to life in prison
By ROB CAROLUS
Staff Writer
January 20, 2007
“This jury had an obligation to issue the death penalty in this case, and they failed,” said a disheartened and exhausted Peggy Miller, grandmother to a young Tyrone boy who never lived to see his seventh birthday. Miller spoke immediately following the news that the murderer of her grandson would be allowed to live.
Nathan Todd Shaw, 26, formerly of Tyrone, was sentenced to life in prison in Blair County Court Friday, just one day after a jury found him guilty of first degree murder and other related charges. The panel of six men and six women got the sentencing case at just before 4 p.m. and was deadlocked on “life or death” throughout the evening.
The jury foreman twice notified Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron of their “inability to arrive at an agreement.”
The second time, Milliron ruled it a “hung jury.”
Shaw stood trial for fatally stabbing 6-year-old Jared Klein during a rampage in the young boy’s Tyrone home the night of Dec. 26, 2005. Shaw was found guilty of beating the boy repeatedly, choking him and fatally stabbing him, then leaving his lifeless body in the middle of the living room floor, with the murder weapon - a kitchen knife - still embedded four inches deep in his neck. He also attacked Klein’s mother, Christina Muoio, his ex-girlfriend. Shaw punched her several times in the face, breaking her nose and eye sockets. He also choked her, then dragged her upstairs to her bed, bound her by the hands and feet and raped her.
Milliron explained that in the case of a hung jury during first degree murder sentencing, his legal obligation was to issue life without the possibility of parole.
The jury contemplated the case for over five hours, in similar fashion to their Thursday night deliberation that ultimately produced a guilty verdict for murder in the first degree. While deliberation was still going on, lead defense counsel Theodore Krol said, “It’s hard to tell what’s going on in (the jury room). To form a judgment at this point would be speculation.”
Prior to being excused for deliberation Friday afternoon, the jury heard from several witnesses for both sides, including Shaw’s father, mother and grandparents, and Muoio and Miller, Muoio’s mother. These “impact statements” gave the families of the victims and the defendant the opportunity to directly express their feelings on what penalty should be dealt out for the vicious crimes.
“The impact of losing Jared has been unbearable,” said Muoio as she tearfully delivered her statement to the jury. “It’s like your insides die, but your heart still beats.
“My son was my whole world - that world was ripped apart.”
All of Shaw’s family members who testified during sentencing asked that the jury spare his life.
Defense counsel Steven Passarello, who argued the penalty phase on Shaw’s behalf, asked the jury to consider the alternative of life in prison, calling for an end to the killing.
“We as a people are good and civil,” he said. “One boy is already dead - one mother’s son - do we really need two?”
Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio reminded the jury that during jury selection, each member “promised” to impose the death penalty should the evidence prove it warranted.
“The defense would have you believe we’re cold and heartless, that we want to kill this man,” he said, referring to Shaw. “They would have you believe that by imposing the death penalty, you would be killing this man. I’ll tell you, I didn’t create this situation, you didn’t do it, he did it,” the DA said, pointing a stern finger at Shaw.
The prosecutors presented two aggravating circumstances which they said required a verdict for death under Pennsylvania state law.
“Murder in the first degree must carry the death penalty if at least one of a list of aggravating circumstances are present,” explained Blair County Deputy District Attorney Douglas Keating. “In this case, the victim being under the age of 12 is an aggravating circumstance. Also, the commission of this murder while perpetrating a felony offense ó this would be the rape which he’s also been found guilty of - is an aggravating circumstance.”
Passarello argued that there were mitigating circumstances that would weigh against the aggravating circumstances presented by the prosecution.
“We’re not asking you to set Mr. Shaw free,” he said to the jury. “We’re not asking you to excuse what he did. We’re just asking you not to kill him.”
Prior to the jury’s announcement, Judge Milliron cautioned the audience, made up primarily of members and friends of both families and representatives of the media, to quell any potential emotional outbursts that might occur.
Following the verdict, those in the courtroom began to quietly exit, exchanging embraces and reassurances. Muoio sat motionless and stunned for several moments, then, as they led Shaw from the courtroom, she could be heard through her tears saying, “He should’ve died. My son didn’t have a choice.”
DA Consiglio said of the “no verdict” at a press conference later Friday evening, “There was obviously a problem. We felt that we presented a case that would certainly warrant a death sentence.
“If anyone deserved to die, this guy deserved to die. He’s pure evil.
“This is not a criticism of the jury,” he added. “They worked very hard all week and we have a lot of respect for them. This is never an easy thing.”
Tyrone Borough Police Chief Joe Beachem said, when asked if he was satisfied that justice had been served, “He was found guilty on all counts, including first degree murder. I think that speaks volumes about whether justice was served.
“Did we get the sentence we wanted? No. We felt good about it, especially after the sickening, disgusting testimony (from Shaw) we were subjected to yesterday. But he’ll never see the light of day again.”
With sentencing to be scheduled in the upcoming months, Muoio and her family have seen an end to the trial of their loved one’s killer; however, as they told The Daily Herald following Friday’s proceedings, they have a lifetime of grief to bear.
“No one could fight for Jared that night but the person who killed him had many people begging for his life today,” Muoio said.
“(Shaw) should be dead. He should be in hell and I hope he rots there.”
“Mom Mom,” as Jared referred to his Grandma Miller, reminded the press of another victim in this tragedy.
“Don’t ever forget, these brutal attacks happened right in front of my granddaughter - she was only two - and she still has nightmares.
“She has to live her life without her big brother but she has to carry with her the memory of his murder.”
My Way
This is another of Jareds favorite songs!
Published: January 26, 2007 02:16 pm
Ugly stretch of violence challenges sensibilities
BY CHIP MINEMYER
Unlike the jury that heard his case, I am not conflicted over whether Nathan Shaw should be permitted to continue living.
Break out the needle and roll in the gurney, I say.
I have read enough on capital punishment to know that not everyone on death row is guilty, and that inmates on the “mile” sometimes endure considerable mental and physical anguish.
But DNA evidence will never clear Shaw, who was found guilty of killing 6-year-old Jared Klein by stabbing him in the neck with a knife.
Shaw admitted to stabbing the boy, but said it was an accident.
His jury didn’t buy that.
The boy, testimony and evidence show, had been attempting to protect his mother, who was brutally attacked by Shaw that same night – Dec. 26, 2005.
Shaw was found guilty of first-degree murder and a long list of other despicable crimes.
But the jury was split over whether Shaw should face the death penalty or life in prison, and sent the killer to prison for life without the possibility of parole.
Some might say it’s ironic that a “hung” jury spared a man who himself should hang.
Jared’s mother, who had a second child with Shaw, said: “He should have died.”
Opponents of capital punishment argue that execution represents cruel and unusual punishment, that it doesn’t deter crime, and that it violates the human rights of the one found guilty. They point to the fact that not all people who are executed are guilty.
Those are all solid points.
In his latest book, “The Innocent Man,” author John Grisham paints a picture of corrupt public officials climbing the ladder on the backs of people treated unjustly by the court – specifically a man who sat for years on death row in Oklahoma. I’m sure that sometimes happens as well.
On the other side, supporters of capital punishment say there is no evidence that it does not deter others from committing such crimes. They say it is more economical than keeping an inmate alive for years, supporting him through tax dollars in public-supported facilities, and eliminating the criminal guarantees that the crime will not be repeated should the guilty exit prison either through an escape or other means.
And some just believe in the old eye-for-an-eye concept: Killers should in turn be killed.
Maybe I’m just feeling overwhelmed by a stream of ugly violence that has played out on the pages of this newspaper.
In the past year or so, we’ve reported on these brutal incidents:
n An Ebensburg-area woman was kidnapped and kept in a car trunk for hours before being strangled. Her throat was slashed, and she was dumped in a pond in Munster Township. The killer reportedly talked about killing her while she was in the trunk and she could hear him.
n A Portage man was gunned down in cold blood. His stepson confessed to the murder, and said he was urged to do it by his mother, the victim’s common-law wife.
n A Gallitzin man was found guilty of gunning down three people outside an Altoona nightclub.
n A Philadelphia man was charged with murder after allegedly shooting an acquaintance and then burning him alive near Blandburg in northern Cambria County. The accused, Torone Dixon, was later killed in a shoot-out at the county prison before he could face the charges.
On top of that, you’ve read about two Somerset County babies who were abused in unimaginable ways by their own parents. One child, a 7-week-old girl, was shocked with a stun gun and had her leg bent until it broke by her father.
Count me among those who have had enough.
In these cases, I am not even comforted by the belief that an especially unpleasant corner of hell awaits their arrival.
I’m beginning to think that the sooner we get them there the better.
Maybe the Iraqis have this one right.
Chip Minemyer is the editor of The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at cminemyer @cnhi.com or 532-5091.
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January 19th 2007
Shaw found guilty of murdering 6-year-old boy
By KATHY MELLOTT
KMELLOTT@TRIBDEM.COM
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Jurors convicted a Blair County man early today of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Jared Klein, 6, not buying the defense contention that the homicide was accidental.
Nathan Shaw, 27, also was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault, rape, theft, simple assault, indecent assault, false imprisonment and other lesser charges.
Shaw stared intently at the jury until the jury’s decision was read.
Upon hearing the guilty verdicts, he turned to one of his attorneys and said, “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what I did. I told the truth. What happened to justice?”
Jurors deliberated for 8 1/2 hours before reaching their verdict at about 1 a.m.
“We were disappointed that a number of the jurors were swayed to the first degree,” said defense attorney Theodore Krol.
Jurors will reconvene at 11:30 a.m. today for the penalty phase of the trial, in which a death sentence will be considered.
Shaw took the stand in his own defense earlier Thursday and told jurors he was running down a hallway carrying a kitchen knife when he accidentally collided with Jared and the knife plunged into the boy’s neck.
Shaw, of Tyrone, denied beating and attempting to strangle Jared on Dec. 26, 2005, at the Tyrone home the boy shared with his mother, Christine Muoio, and his younger sister, Angel – Shaw’s daughter. He’d traveled there from the Johnstown halfway house where he had been temporarily living.
He said an unknown man was in the house that day, that his stabbing of Jared was accidental and that his former girlfriend begged him for sex when she thought she was going to die.
The DA said that version of events was preposterous.
“That is the most outrageous thing you heard in this case. It may even be the most outrageous thing you will ever hear,” District Attorney Richard Consiglio said in closing arguments.
Shaw testified he had a knife in his hand because he planned to confront an unknown man he thought Muoio was seeing.
“I knocked him (Jared) down, and I fell on top of him. I picked him up and carried him downstairs,” said a tearful Shaw.
“He had a knife in him. I didn’t know what to do.”
In a sequence of events Consiglio later called unbelievable, Shaw testified he then bound Muoio – unconscious from a beating – with duct tape, dragged her upstairs and raped her.
Shaw testified that Muoio – who had a broken nose, beaten face and blood running down her throat – told him she wanted to have sex before she died.
The relationship between Shaw and Muoio had ended several months prior to the assault, and Shaw was trying to rekindle it when he became suspicious that Muoio had a new boyfriend.
He testified that he was a caring, loving father and had a good relationship with Jared, who saw little of his biological father.
Shaw testified that he took duct tape to the Muoio house so he could restrain the supposed boyfriend and talk to him.
Consiglio said Shaw went to the home with other intentions.
“Hatred had a lot to do with this little boy’s death. Control had a lot to do with this little boy’s death, because he couldn’t control that woman. Hatred got so bad, he beat her and killed him,” Consiglio said.
Krol argued the prosecution was successful in putting Shaw at the scene and the knife in his hand but contended the death was not intentional.
“He didn’t have the intent to kill Jared Klein. The assault against Christine, we don’t contend that (was unintentional),” Krol said.
Jan 22nd 2007
Jury deadlocks; Shaw will get life
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
Jared Klein
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Nathan Shaw of Tyrone will serve life in prison for murdering 6-year-old Jared Klein after a hung jury spared his life.
“He should have gotten the death penalty,” said Jared’s mother and Shaw’s ex-girlfriend, Christine Muoio. “My son didn’t have anybody there to fight for him.”
The jury deliberated for about four hours, then told the judge they could not reach a unanimous decision required for a death sentencing.
That means sentencing falls to Blair County Judge Dan Milliron, who promised Friday night a sentence of life without parole. A judge cannot impose the death penalty.
The first sign of a possible hung jury came Thursday night, when jurors struggled for more than eight hours before reaching a first-degree murder conviction on the Dec. 26, 2005, stabbing death.
“My daughter has been through hell. Her life has been turned upside down, and he [Shaw] is allowed to smile,” said Jared’s grandmother, Peggy Miller. “He should be in hell where he belongs, and I hope he rots there.”
On Friday, jurors heard Muoio and Miller tearfully read statements and Shaw’s family speak of his childhood in which his mother deserted him.
Shaw’s mother, Lorrie Ann Howard of Hyner, Clinton County, testified Friday that she rarely saw her son.
As she walked from the courtroom, Shaw said, “I love you, Mom ... I love you, Mom.”
Shaw also was convicted of charges relating to his attack on Muoio and theft of her car.
Those charges are two counts of aggravated assault, as well as rape, indecent assault and theft in addition to the murder.
Shaw’s family remained distraught at the first-degree murder conviction.
Gary Shaw, Nathan’s father, his eyes red with tears, said nothing. His grandfather Paul Shaw said life was the best of the options.
Nathan’s grandmother Phyllis Shaw said, “It’s a relief he isn’t getting the death penalty.”
District Attorney Richard Consiglio said he respected the jury’s attempt to reach a decision.
“This guy is a guy who deserved to die,” Consiglio said.
Jurors could not be reached for comment after they told Milliron they were deadlocked.
Viewers in the courtroom, including the media, were not allowed to leave until the jury departed the courthouse.
Shaw was scheduled to return to the State Correctional Institution in Houtzdale Friday night, where he will remain until sentencing in a few months.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
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News : Local Last Updated: Jan 8th, 2007 - 06:06:48
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Jurors to Report to Hear Shaw Capital Murder Case
By Chris Forshey
Jan 8, 2007, 09:00
Jury selection begins this morning in a high-profile Blair County Murder trial.
Lawyers will sift through 400 jurors to hear the capital murder case against accused killer Nathan Shaw, who is charged with stabbing a 6-year-old Tyrone boy to death last December. Prosecutors also charged the 26-year-old Shaw with raping the boy’s mother, and then stealing her car and fleeing to Oklahoma, where he left police on a high-speed chase.
Shaw was brought back to Pennsylvania last January to face the charges. As of Friday, 381 jurors remained on the list to potentially hear testimony against Shaw. Defense lawyers had requested that the trial be moved or that an out-of-county jury be brought in to hear the case. Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron has ruled that the county would attempt to seat a jury first, before considering a potential move.
Shaw faces the death penalty if he is convicted on the first-degree murder charge. Jury selection is expected to last the whole week. Testimony could begin as early as next Monday.
© Copyright 2004-2005 by WRTA.com
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Thursday, September 21, 2006
Trial set for alleged child killer
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The trial of a man accused of murdering a 6-year-old boy in Tyrone will begin in mid-January, a Blair County judge said Wednesday.
Judge Dan Milliron also appointed veteran defense lawyer Steven P. Passarello to represent Nathan Todd Shaw during a death penalty hearing if the jury convicts Shaw of first-degree murder.
Shaw is charged with the stabbing death of Jared Klein, the son of an estranged girlfriend.
Shaw’s lead attorney, Assistant Public Defender Theodore Krol, asked Milliron to try the case before a jury from outside Blair County because of the publicity the case has generated.
He also has asked that prospective jurors be quizzed extensively about their knowledge of the case “to ensure a fair and impartial jury free from outside information.”
Milliron said he will hear legal arguments for an out-of-county jury Nov. 1 and said any lingering pretrial questions should be filed by that date.
The prosecution, led by District Attorney Richard Consiglio, also must present defense attorneys with a list of witnesses by that time.
Jury selection is to begin Jan. 8, with the trial to start Jan. 16.
Police charge that Shaw went to the Tyrone home of his estranged girlfriend Dec. 26.
The meeting went sour, and Shaw began to beat the girlfriend and her son. He took the woman upstairs, bound her and raped her, police said.
Shaw then left the Tyrone home and stole the woman’s car, according to charges.
When the woman eventually freed herself, she found her son dead on the living room floor with a knife thrust into his neck.
Shaw was arrested in Oklahoma and returned to Blair County.
He will be the fifth suspect to face the death penalty in Blair County during the past six years.
On Sept. 11, Blair County Prison authorities said Shaw assaulted a corrections officer, and he was moved to the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale.
The attack is being reviewed by prosecutors from the district attorney’s office, but as of Wednesday, no new charges were filed.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468
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Accused child killer moved for beating corrections officer
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Tyrone man awaiting trial for the murder of a 6-year-old boy was transferred to the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale after he brutally beat a corrections officer at Blair County Prison.
Warden Donald Ott said Friday that information about the assault was turned over to the Hollidaysburg Borough Police Department. He said charges are expected to be filed against Nathan T. Shaw.
Shaw, 25, faces the death penalty for the January stabbing of his estranged girlfriend’s 6-year-old son.
He is accused of assaulting the mother and murdering Jared Klein by driving a knife into his neck.
Ott said the assault of the officer occurred Sept. 11.
Since his incarceration in January, Shaw has not been a problem, but on Monday, he was given an order to go to lock up. Suddenly he began hitting the officer in the face.
The officer, who Ott did not name, was taken to the hospital for treatment with both of his eyes eyes swollen nearly shut.
He suffered a cut on his head, which required 11 staples to close, and a cut on his nose requiring four stitches.
The officer’s nose and a finger were broken, and he remains off duty, Ott said.
The warden said this was the worst assault on an officer he has seen in his 26 years at the jail.
“It all happened spontaneously, within seconds,” Ott said.
A “Code Red” was called, and other officers offered assistance within seconds, he said.
Shaw then was placed in a holding cell.
“We live with it every day,” Ott said as he discussed the dangerous environment of the jail.
He said the jail has been lucky, noting that there have been only four assaults by inmates on officers in the past two years.
The jail was crowded Friday, with 323 inmates, and Ott said it’s hard to keep someone like Shaw isolated or segregated because of the crowded conditions.
Shaw has been in jail since he was arrested in Oklahoma, where he fled after the boy’s murder.
According to charges, he arrived at the former girlfriend’s home Dec. 26.
Shaw bound the mother’s hands and mouth with duct tape and dragged her to a bedroom, where the assault took place.
He is charged with stealing the woman’s car and leaving the area.
According charges, the mother also was beaten severely on the face by Shaw.
When the woman was able to free herself, she found her son on the first floor of the home with a knife in his neck.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468
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