SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) – An attorney for a newlywed husband who admitted, along with his wife, of killing a man who was lured through a Craigslist ad says his client should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because his previous attorneys were ineffective.
Attorney Richard Feudale says 23-year-old Elytte Barbour should have pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the November 2013 stabbing death of 42-year-old Troy LeFerrara of Port Trevorton.
Feudale argues that a breakdown in communication between Barbour and his previous legal counsel led to the August 2014 guilty plea to second-degree murder and other charges.
Barbour says he was told that no potential defense was available and he would face the death penalty if he didn’t plead guilty.
He and 20-year-old Miranda Barbour are serving life sentences without possibility of parole.