Area man says murder plea coerced

By Rich Cholodofsky

A Rostraver man serving a life sentence for killing his sister’s boyfriend in 2015 contends he was coerced into pleading guilty to first-degree murder to avoid a potential death sentence.

Billy Ray Boggs Jr., 52, appeared in court this week for a third appeal in his ongoing attempts to withdraw his guilty plea for the fatal beating of Thomas Guercio. Police said Boggs beat Guercio, 35, in the head with a hammer and then stabbed him in the chest. A day later, he dumped the body down a hillside near Kittanning, Armstrong County.

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