Mark Duane Edwards

Case record: Mark Duane Edwards

Background

Mark Duane Edwards Jr., 24, was convicted for killing Larry A. Bobish, Sr., 50, Joanna Marian Bobish, 42, and Krystal Leigh Bobish, 17, and for arson involving the Bobish family home.

At his 2004 trial, public defender Dianne Zerega argued that Mark Duane Edwards was borderline retarded and on drugs at the time of the killings.

The offence

A Fayette County jury found Mark Duane Edwards guilty of breaking into a mobile home and gunning down Larry A. Bobish Sr., 50, Joanna Marian Bobish, 42, and Krystal Leigh Bobish, 17, on April 14, 2002.

The jury returned three first-degree murder convictions and one second-degree murder conviction for the death of Krystal Bobish’s unborn child, which was at 28 weeks’ gestation.

The jury also found Mark Duane Edwards guilty of arson and attempting to kill Larry Bobish, Jr., a 12-year-old son of Larry and Joanna Bobish, who was a key witness to the shootings. Larry Bobish Jr. survived gunshot wounds to the hand and head and a stab wound to the neck. He testified that he played dead and only fled when he realized the house was on fire.

Witnesses testified that Mark Duane Edwards shot the Bobish family to avoid a drug debt.

Investigation

Two witnesses testified they heard Mark Duane Edwards say that he planned to kill the Bobish family.

When interviewed by police, Mark Duane Edwards waived his Miranda rights. He stated that he killed the parents but did not recall shooting the son and daughter.

Timeline

• April 14, 2002 — A Fayette County jury found Mark Duane Edwards guilty of breaking into a mobile home and gunning down Larry A. Bobish Sr., 50, Joanna Marian Bobish, 42, and Krystal Leigh Bobish, 17, and for arson.
• May 17, 2004 — Mark Duane Edwards was sentenced to death.
• 2007 — Gov. Ed Rendell signed a death warrant for Mark Duane Edwards.
• April (year not stated) — The state Supreme Court affirmed the convictions on appeal.
• Last year (year not stated) — The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Mark Duane Edwards’ appeal.
• Sept. 19 (year not stated) — Mark Duane Edwards was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection.

Trial

At Mark Duane Edwards’ 2004 trial, public defender Dianne Zerega argued that Mark Duane Edwards was borderline retarded and on drugs at the time of the killings.

The Fayette County jury found him guilty of the killings of the Bobish family members and of arson, and it found him guilty of attempting to kill Larry Bobish Jr., a 12-year-old son.

Sentencing

Mark Duane Edwards was sentenced to death on May 17, 2004.

Appeals

The state Supreme Court affirmed the convictions on appeal.

In April, the U.S.

Outcome

Gov. Mark Duane Edwards was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection Sept. 19 at the State Correctional Institution Rockview, Centre County, according to the warrant that was signed Wednesday.

Aftermath

A death warrant was described as the 70th death warrant Gov. Ed Rendell signed since he took office and the 10th in 2007, and it was stated that none has resulted in an execution.

The article included a quotation from Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Mr. Rendell: “Once the courts find the defendant guilty and sentence him to death, there's a warrant issued and the governor has no option but to sign it,” and: “The governor has the discretion to review an appeal, but not a warrant, he said.”

James Moreno at the habeas unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the attorney of record for Mark Duane Edwards, could not be reached for comment.

It was stated that Mark Duane Edwards’ warrant was the 337th issued since 1985.

It was also stated that although Pennsylvania housed 226 death row inmates, the commonwealth had executed only three people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1978, all during Gov. Tom Ridge’s administration.

It was stated that Texas has sent nearly 400 inmates to the death chamber in the same time frame.

Other details

Two days before the murders, Mark Duane Edwards and a friend reportedly stole six bottles of a street drug called “wet” — cigarettes dipped in formaldehyde mixed with PCP — from Larry Bobish Sr. at gunpoint.

Larry Bobish repeatedly paged Mark Duane Edwards, seeking payment for the drugs, and threatened to call police.

Two days before the killings, Mark Duane Edwards and a friend reportedly stole six bottles of “wet” — cigarettes dipped in formaldehyde mixed with PCP — from Larry Bobish Sr. at gunpoint.

Two witnesses testified they heard Mark Duane Edwards say he planned to kill the Bobishes.

Mark Duane Edwards stated during a police interview that he killed the parents but did not recall shooting the son and daughter.