Woman Guilty of Killing Man, 83, With Hatchet
A woman was convicted of murdering her neighbor with a hatchet, striking the 83-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran nearly 70 times as he begged for his life.
Prosecutors in Lock Haven said that Shonda D. Walter, 25, carried out the attack on James Sementelli because she wanted to join a gang, and one of the initiation requirements was to commit a crime. She also stole $500 and a car from the victim.
Witnesses at the trial testified that Walter said she took a break during the slaying to recite the Lord’s Prayer, etched a cross in the victim’s stomach as he neared death, then watched TV and ate ice cream before leaving.
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