Credit: Falls police
A Levittown man has pleaded guilty to killing his aunt earlier this year.
Jeffrey Allen Stafford, 40, pleaded guilty to a general charge of murder on Wednesday before Bucks County Judge Diane E. Gibbons. The plea means Stafford admitted he was guilty of third-degree murder at the very least.
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Gibbons on Thursday announced during a degree of guilt hearing that Stafford was guilty of first-degree murder, a crime which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Stafford will not face the death penalty. The district attorney’s office said there were none of the aggravating circumstances to warrant prosecutors to go for the death penalty.
In addition, Staff pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of theft, receiving stolen property, access device fraud and possession of heroin.
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Prosecutors said Stafford killed his aunt Alisa Wilson, 61, in January. Her body was found lying face-down just inside the doorway of her residence in the Pennsbury Woods Apartments.
An autopsy performed by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office revealed Wilson died of blunt force trauma to her neck and asphyxiation about 24 to 48 hours before her body was found, authorities said.
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Stafford was scheduled for trial the day of the murder. He was accused of stealing $805 from a PayPal account connected to a business run from Wilson’s apartment. She was listed as a witness in the case.
The theft case was continued and Stafford was eligible to apply for a first-time nonviolent offender program.
After killing Wilson, Stafford, who used to live with his aunt, made off with his aunts 2009 Chrysler 300 that she rarely ever let him touch. He also took some of her jewelry and money to buy heroin.
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Stafford was arrested about 45 minutes after police found Wilson’s body. He was nabbed in the area of Vermillion Way and Vermont Lane in Falls’ Levittown section. He was taken into custody after reportedly being spotted in the stolen Chrysler 300.
Deputy District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said in court that Stafford used Google to search how to kill someone with one’s hands shortly before Wilson’s death.
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Stafford’s friend Philip Benckert recorded video and audio of Stafford admitting to killing Wilson and talking about the crime. The video was admitted as evidence in the case.
“You killed your aunt, and you used her for what you always used her: for your wants and your needs and your desires,” Gibbons told Stafford in court this week.
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“Alisa Wilson gave and gave and gave until there was nothing left to give him but her life, which he took,” Weintraub said.
Stafford’s attorney, Keith Williams, made the case that the 40 year old had ingested LSD prior to the killings and, as a result, was unable to have formed an intent to kill.
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Stafford will be sentenced by Gibbons on Friday morning.
