Judge upholds life sentences in 1973 rape, double murder case

John Veltre Jr. of Monessen filed an appeal after receiving new life sentences.

By RICH CHOLODOFSKY
TribLive

A judge has rejected an appeal from a Monessen man who has spent 50 years in prison for the 1973 murders of two young children and the rape of their mother.

Attorneys for John Veltre Jr., 69, claimed that Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart II abused his discretion when he imposed new life sentences without the possibility of parole and a consecutive 7- to 14year term behind bars.

A state appeals court previously ruled his initial punishment imposed in the late 1970s was illegal. The new sentences imposed by Stewart were nearly identical to what Veltre received following a retrial in 1978.

Veltre was two months shy of his 17th birthday in 1973 when police said he broke into a Monessen apartment, brutally raped a woman then killed her daughters, ages 2 and 3 months.

His sentence was vacated after the state’s Supreme Court in 2016 ruled it improper for juveniles to automatically receive life prison sentences without the possibility of parole. Only in extreme cases can life sentences be imposed, the court said.

During a hearing in late June, Veltre claimed he has reformed his life over the last 20 years, as he has served time in a unit that caters to special needs of inmates and provides intense oversight. In his appeal, Veltre claimed Stewart ignored his efforts to rehabilitate himself and that the judge gave undue weight to crimes he committed as a juvenile prior to the rape and murders.

In an 11-page opinion, Stewart refuted those allegations.

“Let the court be abundantly clear, after taking into consideration all the evidence entered … it finds defendant has not fully grasped the severity of the crimes he committed nor the necessary steps he must take to achieve rehabilitation,” Stewart wrote. “The court finds defendant unable to fully comprehend that his heinous actions killed the lives of two small children and nearly ruined the life of … (their mother).”

Veltre’s victim and her two surviving daughters testified at a hearing this summer and asked that Veltre remain in prison.

Defense attorney Mark Shire argued Veltre was entitled to a sentence that eventually made him eligible for parole. Veltre testified he did not remember much about the crimes he committed, but blamed his poor upbringing, alcohol and drug use for his actions.

He told the judge he believed he was fighting space aliens when he attacked the mother and her two children.