Death Penalty

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Jeffrey E. Miles Sr. is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Franklin County Court on a charge of criminal homicide stemming from the April 3 stabbing death of a Hagerstown woman. Miles, 47, of State Line, Pa., will be arraigned before Judge Douglas Herman at 1 p.m., Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney Matthew Fogal said Friday. On April 6, Pennsylvania State Police found the body of Kristy Dawn Hoke, 29, in the woods off Ninth Street in the Borough of Waynesboro.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- A State Line, Pa., man charged with criminal homicide in the April 3 stabbing death of a Hagerstown woman appeared briefly in court Wednesday for the first time since prosecutors filed paperwork necessary to seek the death penalty against him. Jeffrey E. Miles Sr., 47, was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday afternoon, but Franklin County (Pa.) Court Judge Douglas Herman cited the seriousness of the case in saying he wanted to reschedule the arraignment for a day when he had more time.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a State Line, Pa., man accused of killing a woman now identified in court documents as having worked as an informant for a Pennsylvania law enforcement agency. Jeffrey E. Miles Sr., 47, is charged with criminal homicide in the April 3 stabbing death of Kristy Dawn Hoke of Hagerstown. Hoke's body was found in woods in the southern portion of the Borough of Waynesboro a few days later. Miles' arraignment in Franklin County Court is scheduled for 1 p.m. today.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- A Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., man reaffirmed his not-guilty plea Wednesday to a charge of criminal homicide in the shooting death of his neighbor. Michael Harrigan, 29, appeared for formal arraignment on the charge in Franklin County (Pa.) Court. Harrigan answered "yes" when asked by Judge Douglas Herman if he wanted to continue with the not-guilty plea entered in writing by his attorneys. Harrigan is charged in the May 27 shooting death of Steven Wetzel, 47, on Blue Ridge Avenue.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- She was tied up with family matters, so John Overington's 102-year-old mother was unable to attend a testimonial Sunday honoring her son's record 25 consecutive years as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Overington, 63, a staunch social conservative Republican who represents the 55th District in northern Berkeley County, was first elected in 1984. At the time, it was the 39th District. It covered parts of Berkeley County and Jefferson counties.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- After a jury in Texas decides whether convicted killer Paul Devoe will be sentenced to death or to life in prison, the former handyman will be closer to returning to Franklin County, Pa. "It would be our intent to bring him back, no matter what his sentence is in Texas," Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Angela Krom said. Devoe, 46, is accused of killing Betty Jane Dehart, 81, in her State Line, Pa., home in August 2007. Prosecutors allege he stole Dehart's 2006 Hyundai and $8 as he fled Texas for New York.

Editor's note: The Herald-Mail invites readers to answer poll questions on www.herald-mail.com. Readers also may submit comments about the poll question when voting. A sampling of edited reader comments will run on The Herald-Mail's Opinion page on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The question posted Friday on The Herald-Mail's Web site was: Should Scottish officials have granted a compassionate release to the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing? "Another example of the West bending over to the Muslim extremists.

o Change in death penalty law unlikely to affect Pryor ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Douglas Wayne Pryor, who is charged with murder in the December 2007 deaths of his former girlfriend, Alison Munson, and Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson, is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, Md. Pryor, 30, could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Nicholson. The 1 p.m. hearing is listed in court records online as a plea hearing.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Maryland's new death penalty statute likely will not apply to Douglas Wayne Pryor, who is accused of murdering two Washington County residents, based on an interpretation of the law by the Maryland Attorney General's Office. State officials said earlier this month they were unsure whether the bill would be retroactive, making it unclear if Pryor would qualify for the death penalty under restrictions in the new law. Pryor has been charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Alison Munson, and Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson in 2007.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- A Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit judge granted some defense motions to suppress statements made by Douglas Pryor, who faces the death penalty if he is convicted of the Dec. 19, 2007, shooting death of a Smithsburg Police Department officer, court documents show. Pryor also faces a first-degree murder charge in the stabbing death that day of Alison Munson, the mother of his children. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Louise Scrivener, in decisions handed down last week, granted the defense motion to suppress the first exchange Pryor had with investigators following the shooting.