Pennsylvania

Man Who Killed 3 at Town Meeting Sentenced to Life

A man who opened fire during a municipal meeting in Pennsylvania, killing three people, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three life sentences plus 61-120 additional years behind bars Friday.

Rockne Newell was in court for a hearing in Stroudsburg Friday when he entered the guilty plea on all charges. District Attorney Dave Christine said Newell's sentencing was the longest rendered by the court in the 33 years he's been a lawyer.

Newell was accused of killing township zoning officer David Fleetwood and residents Gerard Kozic and James LaGuardia and wounding a fourth person. Ross Township officials had condemned his property and then bought it at a sheriff's sale, saying he owed thousands of dollars in fines and had generated complaints that he lived in a storage shed, built an illegal culvert and used a bucket outside as a toilet.

Newell packed a rental car with guns and ammunition and drove to the August 2013 municipal meeting, about 85 miles north of Philadelphia, authorities said.

He used a Ruger Mini-14 rifle to blast a barrage of gunfire through a wall into the meeting room, and began firing at people trying to flee. When he ran out of ammunition, Newell retrieved a revolver from the car, and returned, but was tackled by two men attending the meeting and shot in the leg during the scuffle, authorities said.

Ross Township zoning officer David Fleetwood, Gerard Kozic, and James LaGuardia died of their injuries. Three others were wounded.

"I wish I killed more of them!" Newell shouted when a state trooper arrived on the scene, the trooper said.

During Newell's preliminary hearing in November 2013, prosecutors played audio of the shooting rampage and its aftermath. In it, Fleetwood told a 911 dispatcher that he'd been shot in the stomach and identified Newell as the shooter.

"I can't move. ... Please hurry, please hurry," he said. He died at the hospital about an hour later.

Linda Kozic, who was shot in the leg, could be heard urging her 53-year-old husband, Gerard, to breathe and "stay with me."

In a jailhouse interview with The Pocono Record three weeks after the shootings, Newell said, "I'm sorry innocent people got hurt, though I know 'sorry' doesn't fix anything."

Contact Us