A published report states a man accused of taking part in the violent murder of a mild-mannered artist from Levittown in the late 1980s could plead guilty to avoid death at the hands of the state.
Former Tullytown resident Frank Robert Chester, 49, could plead guilty to first-degree murder under a deal that has been reached with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, according to Bucks County Courier Times courts correspondent James O’Malley. He also reported the deal means the alleged killer would avoid the death penalty.
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The deal could be formally accepted at a March 14 court hearing, the newspaper reported.
According to authorities, Chester and Richard Laird, formerly of Bristol, escorted 26-year-old artist Anthony Milano from a bar on Route 13 in Bristol Township on December 15, 1987. At some point, they traveled to Bristol Township’s Venice Ashby section in Milano’s mother’s 1976 Chevrolet Nova. It was there Milano’s body was found in a nearby wooded area and the car was found ablaze.
Milano, who prosecutors have said was gay, suffered injuries to his face, neck and shoulder. A medical examiner found Milano was slashed multiple times. The wounds to his neck were so deep that they severed his vertebrae.
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In recent years, a federal judge overturned Chester and Laird’s previous conviction and death sentence. Laird has been retried and sentenced to death.
The case has gained national attention over the years due to its violent nature and the fact the crime was likely motivated because of the victim’s sexual orientation.
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Chester and Laird has spent more than 20 years in prison for the murder and have frequently had court hearings on the cases.
