7/15/15
by News Department on 07/15/15
Three state Superior Court judges rejected the latest appeal, on Tuesday, by 62 year old Elwood Patrick Hopkins, of Mahanoy City, who set a fatal fire in January 1990 in the borough.
Prosecutors charged Hopkins with setting a fire Jan. 19, 1990, in his apartment building. The fire spread to the adjoining Valley Personal Care Home, where 88 year old Harry J. Kraut, died.
He was convicted on the charges by a Schuylkill County jury on Nov. 14, 1990. The panel ruled that Hopkins advanced no new reasons or facts in his petition, which otherwise was filed too late, that would justify a new trial.
The decision leaves in place the life sentence imposed April 26, 1993, by now Senior Judge, D. Michael Stine, who had presided over his trial. Hopkins is incarcerated at State Correctional Institution/Graterford in Montgomery County.
