HARRISBURG, PA — State corrections officials on Friday announced two major developments within Pennsylvania’s prison system: the death of an inmate at SCI Phoenix and the signing of a notice of execution for a convicted murderer whose case has spanned nearly four decades and shaped national criminal justice history.
Charles Hensley, deputy superintendent of the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, reported that inmate Gerald Rodarmel, 56, was found unresponsive in his cell early Thursday morning. Staff administered life-saving measures until medical personnel arrived, but Rodarmel was pronounced dead at 6:40 a.m.
Rodarmel had been serving a 2-to-4-year sentence for aggravated assault involving designated individuals on a Montgomery County conviction. He was admitted to SCI Phoenix on July 8, 2024.
Per policy, the Pennsylvania State Police have opened an investigation, and the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death. The inmate’s next-of-kin has been notified.
In a separate action Friday, Department of Corrections Secretary Laurel Harry signed a Notice of Execution setting January 2, 2026, as the date for the execution of Richard Roland Laird, sentenced to death in Bucks County for the 1987 murder of 26-year-old artist Anthony Milano.
Under state law, if the governor does not sign a warrant of execution within the required timeframe, the secretary of corrections has 30 days to issue a notice. Harry’s order follows an October decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear Laird’s final appeal — a move that effectively ended nearly forty years of litigation.
The Supreme Court denied Laird’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in Richard Roland Laird v. Laurel Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., leaving intact a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that upheld both his conviction and death sentence. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office had urged the Court to reject the petition, arguing that Laird’s case received exhaustive review and met constitutional standards.
Laird, now 62, and accomplice Frank Chester were originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1989 for Milano’s killing in Bristol Township. Prosecutors said Milano was kidnapped, beaten, slashed, and left for dead in a wooded area near Venice Ashby; his car was later found burned. The case drew national attention as the first in U.S. history to secure a capital conviction and death sentence for a murder motivated by anti-gay bias.
A federal appeals court later overturned the original convictions due to procedural trial errors. Chester entered a guilty plea in exchange for a life sentence, while Laird was retried in 2007. A Bucks County jury again found him guilty of first-degree murder and reinstated the death penalty. Former Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry prosecuted the retrial, and the DA’s Appellate Unit has defended the case through years of subsequent challenges.
“The Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari confirms the validity of Richard Roland Laird’s conviction and sentence,” Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said. “This decision is a crucial step toward bringing closure to the family and loved ones of Anthony Milano, who have waited decades for justice to be finally and irrevocably served.”
Deputy District Attorney John T. Fegley, Chief of Appeals, served as counsel of record for the respondents.
With the nation’s highest court declining review, Laird’s conviction and death sentence now stand as final.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and MSN.