Monessen police, Westmoreland County DA serve warrant on coroner’s office

The Monessen Police Department executed a search warrant at the Washington County Coroner’s Office as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office confirmed Wednesday that the warrant was served to obtain records and reports related to an investigation.

No additional details about the investigation or the specific records sought were immediately released as of press time Wednesday.

“This is uncharted territory for our office,” Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said in a statement. “As a law enforcement agency, Monessen Police Department is entitled to this material pursuant to a criminal investigation and prosecution. Pursuing justice and accountability shouldn’t come at a cost to the victim, the victim’s family, or public safety.”

The search warrant comes amid a series of legal disputes involving the Washington County Coroner’s Office and allegations that Coroner Tim Warco has withheld investigative records from law enforcement agencies.

In March, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh joined Peters Township and Washington County in filing a 454-page King’s Bench petition with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seeking intervention over the coroner’s handling of records.

The petition alleges Warco withheld information, including autopsy reports, and delayed investigations, preventing law enforcement agencies from advancing a 2025 death investigation in Peters Township.

“I want the coroner to do what he’s elected to do in his job — provide the autopsies and the testing like it has always been done to the district attorney’s office as they are entitled to get so that they can do their job, do our job, my job and the police departments so they can do their jobs,” Walsh said following the filing. “It’s that simple, it’s not difficult.”

Officials have not publicly identified the death investigation referenced in the petition.

A representative for the coroner’s office denied the allegations at the time, saying the petition contained “misstatements and factual inaccuracies.”

Regarding the Peters Township case, the representative said, “We did not find a medical reason for the death, so we have no manner of death.”

The King’s Bench petition remains under review by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The latest search warrant also follows an investigation last November in which state police, assisted by officers from Canonsburg and Washington, executed five search warrants at the Washington County Coroner’s Office.

According to state police, the warrants stemmed from allegations that Warco withheld multiple autopsy reports from the district attorney’s office and instead required payment before releasing the documents.

State police said Pennsylvania law allows non-government entities to be charged fees for such records but noted that government agencies, including district attorneys’ offices, are not subject to those charges.

Warco disputed those claims, telling WTAE last year that his office follows a fee schedule for records, including charging $700 for an autopsy report.

“There is no law stating that I have to give any agency a police report or a coroner’s report or an autopsy,” Warco said at the time. “There’s a fee schedule for each item in my file — autopsy, toxicology and coroner’s report. Who pays for that? The taxpayers.”

The dispute between Walsh and Warco has intensified in recent years.

In 2023, detectives from Walsh’s office served a search warrant at the coroner’s office seeking evidence related to the inquest into the fatal police shooting of Eduardo Hoover Jr. in Mt. Pleasant Township after Warco’s findings differed from the district attorney’s conclusion that the shooting was justified.

Last summer, Warco also accused Walsh of unethical conduct in pursuing the death penalty in a Peters Township infant homicide case, while defense attorneys alleged Walsh used the threat of capital punishment to pressure defendants into plea agreements.

As of Wednesday, neither the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office nor Monessen police had released additional information regarding the current investigation or whether any charges are anticipated.

An email asking for comment from the Washington County spokesperson was not returned as of press time.