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Jun 30, 2009 8:22 am US/Eastern
Monroeville Man Gets Life Sentence In Teen's Death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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Monroeville police say they believe a 19-year-old suspect fatally stabbed a Gateway High School cheerleader in an apparent murder-attempted suicide late last night.
KDKA
A man from Monroeville will spend the rest of his life in prison for stabbing a Gateway High School cheerleader to death two years ago.
Jurors took less than two hours yesterday to find John Mullarkey guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Demi Cuccia.
Mullarkey's defense attorneys argued that the acne drug, Accutane, put him in a psychotic state the night that he stabbed Cuccia 16 times.
But jurors apparently refuted the argument and unanimously agreed that Mullarkey intended to kill Cuccia.
After the sentencing, the victim's father thanked prosecutors.
"Justice was served today and Mark Tranquilli did an exceptional job," Gary Cuccia told reporters. "He's a man of integrity and it takes a special man to represent my daughter and he did a great job and I will personally forever be grateful for him as well as my family."
"I'm just glad to see that justice was served, Gary Cuccia added, "because my daughter was brutally murdered and nobody deserves to die like that."
Demi Cuccia's family has set up a fund and website to help raise awareness about teen domestic violence.
For more information, visit the Demi Brae Cuccia Memorial Foundation at
http://www.demi-cuccia.virtual-memorials.com.
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