David Flood

Name

David Flood

Status

David H. Flood signed papers admitting he killed his wife, two stepchildren, and the boyfriend of one of the children, and he pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

Charges and convictions

Flood pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in state prison.

Sentence

Flood received four consecutive life terms in state prison.

Timeline

• May 1, 1991 — Flood pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in state prison.
• Jan. 6 — Flood committed shootings of his wife, Rosemary Flood, 42; Todd Novotasky, 18; Keri-Lyn Novotasky, 17; and Keri-Lyn’s boyfriend, Michael Fadden, 21, in Claussville Road, Weisenberg Township.
• Jan. 13 — Flood was apprehended in Glastonbury, Conn., after having lived there as the family before moving to the Lehigh Valley.

The offence

Flood was charged with the Jan. 6 shootings in Claussville Road, Weisenberg Township. The victims were:

• Rosemary Flood, 42 (his wife)
• Todd Novotasky, 18 (one stepchild)
• Keri-Lyn Novotasky, 17 (another stepchild)
• Michael Fadden, 21 (Keri-Lyn’s boyfriend)

Flood spared another stepchild, Stacey Novotasky, who turned 16 on the day before Flood was apprehended and was living with her father in Connecticut.

After the killings, investigators said Flood paid the rent on the house and left notes around the house explaining how he killed the victims, where he left the murder weapons, what he was thinking, and who should be notified among the survivors. Flood left behind an envelope in a neighbor’s mailbox; the envelope contained two envelopes, one instructing the neighbor to call Ted Novotasky and to tell him not to bring his daughter, Stacey, to the house, and the other addressed to state police.

Flood’s note to state troopers told them to go to the house and said: "You will not like what you see."

Troopers went to the house and found two dead dogs in the unlocked garage. The dogs had been killed with blows from a hammer. Rosemary Flood and Todd Novotasky were found in upstairs bedrooms. Keri-Lyn Novotasky and her boyfriend, Michael Fadden, were found in the basement where they lived.

During the morning and shootings as described by investigators:

• Flood and his wife had an argument the night before he shot her.
• Flood told police his wife threatened to leave him.
• In the morning, he shot her in their bed.
• He went to the basement where he shot Keri-Lyn.
• When Todd Novotasky returned home, Flood shot him.
• The last victim was Michael Fadden, who came home later.

On one of the notes he left behind, Flood said he "wanted everyone to go to hell together."

Flood wrote in one note: "The bills are too much. We are about to lose everything."

Flood also explained why Stacey was spared: Stacey "never wanted anything and never gave anybody any trouble. She was always good. Something in his head just told him not to hurt Stacey."

Flood drove Stacey Novotasky after she called the house at the Roy Rogers restaurant in Trexlertown to get a ride home. Flood drove her to Connecticut, saying the family was looking for a house there and would be moving. Flood then drove back to Pennsylvania and spent three days in the house with the bodies.

Investigation and apprehension

Flood was apprehended Jan. 13 in Glastonbury, Conn., where the family had lived before moving to the Lehigh Valley. Flood confessed to police.

Arrest and custody

Flood was in the county jail by the time his guilty plea was entered.

Trial and guilty plea hearing

Lehigh County Judge David E. Mellenberg repeatedly asked Flood if he understood what he was doing and if he realized the chance of getting his sentence commuted is "next to nothing."

Mellenberg asked: "Having heard all of that, is it still your intention to plead guilty of your own free will?"

Flood replied: "Yes, sir," after hearing Mellenberg’s questions.

Mellenberg also asked prosecutors about a motive. Trooper Francis J. Karvan said Flood told police that he and his wife had an argument the night before he shot her. Flood told Karvan that his wife threatened to leave him and that he shot her in their bed in the morning, then went to the basement to shoot Keri-Lyn and then shot Todd Novotasky when he returned home, with Michael Fadden being shot after he came home later.

Flood told Mellenberg he wanted to spare remaining family members the pain and grief of a trial, and he said: "I'm sorry it happened," and he added: "I'd rather just go on with life and let them go on with life."

During the hearing, Stacey Novotasky began crying while sitting in the spectators’ section; she and her father left the courtroom and did not return.

Legal representatives and plea agreement

District Attorney Robert Steinberg said the plea agreement for life sentences was proposed by Flood’s public defenders, William Wismer and Michael Brunnabend. Steinberg said he talked about the plea with state troopers who investigated the case, Fadden’s mother, and Ted Novotasky, the father of the Novotasky children, and that all consented to the plea agreement.

Steinberg said after the hearing: "It's going to be his own living hell. Every day of his life he will live with the fact he killed his family. This quickly and appropriately brings this to a conclusion."

Steinberg also said: "It's difficult, quite frankly, to turn down four consecutive life sentences."

Fadden’s mother, Lorraine Fadden of Connecticut, told Steinberg she was satisfied with the plea as long as Flood would never get out of prison.

Wismer said Flood spoke with a pastor who visited him in the county jail and decided to plead guilty. Wismer said: "That changed his whole frame of mind about everything, including his own life," and he said it was like "sweeping the ocean back with a broom."

Sentencing context

Judge Mellenberg repeatedly asked Flood if he understood what he was doing and the likelihood of commutation, including asking about Flood’s intention to plead guilty.

Flood dressed in a light gray suit and white shirt.

Other details

Family background and statements

After the hearing, Lorraine Fadden said she had no inkling that Flood was capable of murder when her son moved to Pennsylvania with his girlfriend and the rest of Flood’s family. She said: "They were always in the hole, I knew that."

Fadden said Rosemary and David Flood often argued about who was spending how much and who was paying the bills.

Fadden said that when Rosemary and David visited friends in Connecticut at Christmas, "they were all so happy together." She said she saw a videotape of the Floods that was taken by friends during the holiday and added: "There was nothing to indicate that David would commit murder."

Notes, rent, and actions after the killings

Investigators said Flood paid the rent on their house and left notes about who should be contacted.

Attempt to retrieve belongings and ongoing legal battles

After the shootings, Fadden said the landlord changed the locks to the house. She and Ted Novotasky tried to arrange a date with the landlord to retrieve their children’s personal items and made five or six trips to Pennsylvania without success.

Fadden said the landlord wants them to make a list of the items they want to take. She also said they had hired a local lawyer to try to get the items and spoken with Steinberg about their plight.

Steinberg said he had hoped the landlord and the victims’ survivors could meet yesterday to arrange to move items out of the house, but the landlord’s lawyer said the landlord, who lives in New York, was out of town.

Fadden said she would return to Pennsylvania soon to get items in police custody and hoped she would then be able to get into the house.