Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman cast a crucial vote that led to the release of a man convicted of first-degree murder in the 1969 killing of an elderly woman.
Fetterman (chair of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons) voted with the rest of their board to release Edward Silvis. This fulfilled the requirement of a unanimous vote to recommend clemency. Democratic governor. Tom Wolf granted Silvis’ request on Feb. 15, releasing him from prison.
Silvis, now 82, was serving a life sentence for the fatal shooting of 87-year-old Alice Siggins, a retired teacher, during an attempted robbery in her Armstrong County home on April 12, 1969.
Silvis was accused once of shooting Siggins with a rifle, before fleeing the scene without any cash. PennLive.com has previously reported. Silvis reportedly turned himself in to state police that same night.
John Fetterman is the lieutenant governor for Pennsylvania and Democratic senator candidate. He speaks at a Pittsburgh campaign rally on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
(Nate Smallwood/Bloomberg via Getty Images
FETTERMAN VOTE IN FAILED BIDD TO GET A MAN CONVICTED OF MARKING WOMAN WITH SCISSORS; DA OUT
PennLive.com reported that Silvis failed five times to persuade the courts to release him from prison in 2016.
Marsha Grayson, the victim representative on Board of Pardons for Silvis, was not present at the December public hearing and did not vote.
According to the Amistad Project, a progressive law firm in Philadelphia, the Armstrong County District Attorney attended the hearing in opposition to Silvis’ request for clemency, while the Department of Corrections appeared in support.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. He is accompanied by Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.). The speech was made in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 24, 2022.
(The Associated Press).
Joe Calvello, Fetterman campaign spokesperson on Monday, defended Fetterman’s vote to clemency.
“John’s record on the Board of Pardons has been widely praised by Democrats and Republicans alike,” Calvello told Fox News Digital. “John saved taxpayer dollars and had a fair-minded approach in every case he examined, voting to deny hundreds pardon or commutation cases and siding with law enforcement professionals nearly 90% of all the time.”
“This individual did not have a single misconduct case in his entire 52 years in prison,” Calvello continued, referring to Silvis. “The application was supported by the Department of Corrections, and the Board of Pardons vote to recommend clemency in this case was unanimous, with Attorney General Shapiro and corrections expert Harris Gubernick voting yes and Governor Wolf signing the commutation.”
John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Senate Democratic nominee, L., and Pennsylvania Senate GOP nominee, Dr. Mehmet Ott.
(Mark Makela, Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fetterman’s record on crime has come under scrutiny as his race against Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, continues to tighten. According to RealClearPolitics’ average polls, Fetterman has lost 3.7 percentage points over Oz.
Fetterman, last yearAlexis Rodriguez was convicted in 1989 of the murder of the 17-year old son of a Philadelphia officer.
Fetterman was the sole vote in an unsuccessful bid to commute John David Brookins’ life sentence for murdering a woman using a pair scissors.
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Fetterman Successfully pushedRaymond Johnson was freed from prison immediately after being convicted in 1973 of first-degree and two-degree murders in a York County slaying.
