Pennsylvania

Taxpayers Spend $500K to Defend Murderer

The taxpayer-funded defense of a Pennsylvania man convicted last month of strangling a drug-dealing pharmacist and his girlfriend and burying their bodies in his yard has cost more than $517,000.

That tab was calculated using more than 130 recently unsealed court orders in the case of Hugo Selenski.

Selenski was convicted of first-degree murder but spared the death penalty last month in the flex ties strangulations of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett during a 2002 robbery. Their bodies were found in Selenski's yard in June 2003 and he was charged nearly three years later.

The court records show the attorneys' fees and other defense costs are $517,351.

The bills also include DNA experts, photo copying costs and consultations with a psychologist and pathologist used by Selenski's attorneys.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us