An Act Of Murder (23 page)

“And when Kimberly Hricko says, ‘I'm going to set him on fire as part of my plan,' you have the answer to the arson,” Dean said. “You have the answer to the murder.”

The jurors were told to use their common sense as well as all the information from the case during their deliberations. Dean told the jury that Kimberly really didn't have a theory as to how Steve died. All the defense said was that the medical examiner didn't find any succinylcholine in Steve's body, so no one can be sure that's how he was killed.

“Kimberly, the defendant, was on a mission of death,” Dean told the jurors. “That woman had ice water running through her veins. Kim nearly, nearly committed the perfect crime. Staging an accident, using the substance that disappears in your body. She knew more about the substance than her expert witness did.”

But, he said, Kim's tormented and brave friends knew what was going on and they knew what they had to do.

“You can't just sweep a life under the rug,” Dean said. “All that's left of Steve now is his memory and his ashes. Justice and decency demand that the defendant be held accountable.”

Dean, like Brennan, read a portion of Steve's diary to the jury: “‘I have a lot to offer someone. I eventually will need more from her.' Here's the phrase I want you to remember. ‘This weekend will tell me a lot about her feelings.' Well, I guess so, folks,” Dean said. “That weekend said an awful lot about her feelings. Truer words were never written.”

Finally Dean told the jury members to use common sense as they considered the evidence.

“There's only one verdict that's consistent with the facts. There's only one verdict that's consistent with justice,” he said. “The only verdict consistent with justice in this case, ladies and gentlemen, is guilty as charged. Thank you.”

The jury deliberated approximately three hours before reaching guilty verdicts on the arson and murder charges. As the foreman announced the verdicts, Kim remained stoic, showing no emotion. Steve's family and friends, however, hugged each other and cried after the jury was excused.

Jury foreman Curt Hutchinson explained what happened in the jury room.

“We took an initial vote and there were about five people who didn't want to vote at that time—not that they thought she was not guilty—they just said they needed further information,” Hutchinson said. “The other people were ready to vote. I took a secret ballot—the five wanted more deliberation and the other folks were leaning toward guilty.”

Hutchinson said after the initial vote, the jurors went through the notes they took during trial.

“We talked about it and we got different people's viewpoints, particularly the ones who had questions,” he said. “They were looking at motive and going back and looking at the information that was provided by the various witnesses. Over several hours it became very evident to most people on the jury that there really wasn't a lot of doubt that she was guilty.”

Hutchinson said one thing that came out during trial that helped the jury reach its verdict was the fact that Kim had ready access to the succinylcholine because she was a surgical technologist.

In addition, testimony by state fire marshal Mike Mulligan also played a part in the jury's decision. Hutchinson said Mulligan spent a lot of time on the stand and basically demonstrated to most people that there was no way the fire had been started by careless smoking, as Kimberly had claimed.

“Steve had burned from the head down to the midchest, and she had said that he had smoked a cigar, but she bought the cigar and he didn't typically smoke, from what I understood,” Hutchinson said. “And the fire marshal was unable to get any of the materials to burn, using the cigar, although they smoldered a little bit.”

Hutchinson said the jury also believed Mulligan's testimony that an ember from the woodstove couldn't have started the fire. He said the scientific evidence was pretty much overwhelming and the prosecutor did a good job laying out a very succinct case. The facts were there, he said.

“There was so much real evidence against her,” Hutchinson said. “I based most of my decisions on the scientific evidence that was presented. I was surprised that I got on the jury, because I told them I was a toxicologist—but I looked at pretty much the scientific evidence and to me it was irrefutable that there was no other way it could have happened.”

Hutchinson said he didn't know what the defense could have done differently. They just didn't have a good argument, he said.

“They brought in some witnesses, but their medical guy was just a hired gun, a charlatan, who really didn't help at all. He almost got laughed out of the place. He was so pathetic,” Hutchinson said. “He tried to say it could have been this, it could have been that, but it was obvious that those were not really choices.”

Hutchinson said the testimony from Kim's friends also played a part in the jury's verdict, but that wasn't the overriding factor.

“It added fuel to the decision that she had motive and she had discussed it and she had the means,” Hutchinson said. “To me it was a slam dunk.”

After the jury talked long and hard about the trial, Hutchinson took a second vote.

“Once everything got talked out—the sequences, the fire marshal, the medical examiner, seeing the pictures and listening to Kim's friends, all the jurors—except one—believed Kim was guilty,” he said. “But once she read all the letters Steve had written to Kim, she, too, agreed to go along with the guilty verdict. It really took her reading the letters that he had sent—that's what finally won her over. It can be exasperating when people don't believe the way you think they should, but in the end it was total commitment to the verdict.”

Kim's attorneys were a bit surprised to hear that Hutchinson mainly based his decision on the scientific evidence.

“As we're sitting there in the courtroom and the testimony is coming in, we felt that we were winning on the science and we were winning on the technical aspects of the case,” Harry Trainor said. “But what we felt hurt us the most was when her girlfriends came in and testified regarding what they claimed she had said. We felt that's where we sustained a lot of damage in our case. We were damaged by the personal stuff—the testimony from people who knew her. And clearly the access to medications that might have been used was not helpful to us, even though no doctor ever found any point of entry for the succinylcholine—no needle marks or any delivery device, such as a syringe or anything like that. The gamble in a trial is that you don't know how the twelve people you pick are going to interact with each other and who will be the opinion leader and how strong people will hold to their views—that's the riskiest factor in a jury trial.”

 

 

Judge Horne set Kim's sentencing hearing for Friday, March 19, 1999.

The first person to give a victim's impact statement at Kim's sentencing was Steve's mother, Mary Esther Hricko, who said it was impossible to put into words the effect Steve's death had had on the Hricko family.

“But nothing has been the same,” she said. “My husband can't talk about him without crying. I don't sleep. It really has had a rather devastating effect on us.”

Mary told the judge that since Steve was murdered, her husband had suffered two devastating illnesses, although she said she didn't believe the illnesses were just the result of an elevated stress level. Steve's mother told the judge that since Steve died, she had only been able to see Sarah a couple of times. She said Sarah was the person who would suffer most from Steve's death.

“To lose your father, who would have protected you, is quite a thing,” she said.

Mary Hricko told Judge Horne that her family didn't want him to show Kim any leniency when he sentenced her.

Jennifer Hricko, one of Steve's three sisters, also spoke at Kim's sentencing. Jennifer, a psychological-services specialist at a state prison in Pennsylvania, reminded the court that many people had been affected by Steve's murder, and none of them deserved it.

“There is no way in the world we deserve this,” Jenny said. “Nobody deserves this, no matter what, but we did not deserve this. Sarah, Kim and Steve's daughter, is an intelligent, beautiful child who did not deserve this at all. Her life, whether she knows it or not, to this point, psychologically is ripped apart.”

Jenny told the court that no matter how Sarah seemed to be doing on the outside, there was really no way to predict totally how the devastation of her father's death would affect her future.

“I know that people have suffered, perhaps including the perpetrator,” Jenny said. “But she needs to now go on and do what she can to help her daughter. And if she doesn't, I will then be assured of the cold nature of this woman. I hope she can find it in her heart, and I think there is a spark in her heart that can come through with this, and face this honestly and with responsibility and help herself and her daughter.”

Jenny told the court that although Steve had not been perfect, he was a gentle and good man.

“He was a big, strong man and we all valued him and expected to have him in our lives,” Jenny said. “And I just pray that he can find peace where he is.”

At the hearing Kim's lawyers submitted letters to the judge from friends and family who asked him to be lenient when he sentenced Kim. Some of the letters sent in on Kim's behalf came from relatives, including her paternal uncle and grandparents. But the Kim they described was a far cry from the Kim who had injected her husband with a drug to paralyze his muscles and then set him on fire.

Kim's paternal grandparents, Anna and Glenn Aungst Sr., asked Judge Horne to show compassion when he sentenced her. They told Horne that they were very close to Kim when she was growing up. Kim had always been a polite, caring, bright, and very religious person, who had never been mean to anyone, the Aungsts said.

They told the judge that Kimberly was a very caring mother to her nine-year-old daughter, and that Sarah was very close to her mother and both mother and daughter really needed one another. They pleaded with the judge to show compassion and find it in his heart to return Kimberly to her family as soon as possible.

Kim's stepmother, Karen Pasquariello, told Judge Horne that throughout the twenty-six or so years she had known her she had always exhibited many wonderful qualities. Kim had always displayed an extreme love for God and for other people, she said in her letter.

Pasquariello said Kim had always shown integrity, kindness, helpfulness, compassion and unselfishness toward others. She said Kim was sympathetic to others who were less fortunate or troubled, and Kim never appeared to be materialistic.

“I have known her to be always focused on spiritual rather than material things. I trusted and believed in Kim. Kim has always extended kindness and respect to me,” Pasquariello said.

Kim's aunt, G.R. Matthews, said she had always been a very sweet, unselfish girl, whom she had enjoyed being around. She said when her mother passed away, Kim couldn't take time off from work to be with her. But she did call to offer her condolences and also made arrangements for food to be available after the funeral.

“This was a compassionate act that I shall always remember,” Matthews said.

Matthews also said Kim had always demonstrated only positive characteristics in her life and in her interactions with others.

Ronald Aungst, Kim's uncle, also wrote to Judge Horne telling him about Kim's life. He said Kim was a good little girl, happy and loving. He said Kim was a very good student in school and graduated from a private Christian high school in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Kim then attended two private Christian colleges, working her way through school as a waitress. Then she got married and had Sarah. He told Judge Horne that Kim graduated from Penn State University and was a registered nurse and a surgical nurse.

Ronald Aungst explained that Kim had always been caring and concerned about helping sick people. He said Kim's grandmother had had many mental and physical illnesses over the past twenty-five years and Kim had always been there for her in her time of need, caring for her, supporting her and helping her work through those difficult times.

“I know, Judge Horne, that you take into account the kind of life a person has lead when sentencing them and know what's best to help each individual person,” he said. “I thank you, Judge Horne, for helping my dear niece, Kimberly, receive the treatment she needs to bring her back to health.”

Although not at Kim's sentencing, her mother remembered what her only daughter had been like growing up. She told the judge Kim was born in 1965 and she was four when the divorce from her father, Glenn Aungst, was final. The family lived in California for the first three years of Kim's life—her dad was in the service—then he went to Vietnam and Lois moved back to Hollidaysburg. She said she married her current husband at the end of 1970.

Lois said Kim had gone to Hollidaysburg Junior High School, and then she chose to go to Calvary Baptist Christian Academy. She had been valedictorian of her class in 1983. She had played basketball in high school and had been a cheerleader there, too. Matt, her half-brother, had been born in 1971, Lois said. Kim liked to roller skate and shop and she liked to have sleepovers with friends. She was a good student, always on the honor roll, her mother said. However, although Kim had many friends, she wasn't allowed to date until she was sixteen, she said. Lois said when Kim started dating she had a lot of boyfriends.

“She never caused a problem anywhere she went. She never got a traffic ticket and never had any problem with the law, ever,” Lois said.

Lois said her second husband had difficulty accepting Kim, but he was never mean to her.

“He wrote her a letter when she was first arrested saying he should have loved her more,” she said.

Kim went to Messiah College where she took classes in communications and was also a cheerleader. However her father wanted her to go to Penn State. He didn't want her at a Christian College so she ended up quitting and without telling Lois. Kim met the Millers at Penn State.

“She sort of walked away from the Lord. But she didn't start living for the Lord until she was inside that prison,” Lois said.

At the sentencing hearing Prosecutor Bob Dean told the judge why the state didn't want him to show her any leniency and why Kim should receive a life sentence for the murder conviction and a consecutive sentence for the arson conviction.

Dean said on the outside Steve and Kim seemed to have captured the American dream. They were a young, healthy, successful suburban couple with a beautiful young daughter. They had it all—good jobs, a lovely home, family, friends. But appearances were deceiving, he said.

“I'm not going to try to explain it. And I, quite frankly, think it would be impossible to understand it, but there were storm clouds in the heart of Kimberly Hricko and she kept that hidden for some time and it all poured forth about a year ago. And by doing so, Kimberly Hricko threw away her life as she knew it, and it was a life that many people can only hope for.”

Dean said Kim had become a twisted, angry woman full of hate.

“She had two months of virtual infatuation with a younger man,” Dean said. “And we saw how she gave her heart to that younger man, Brad Winkler.”

Dean said even as the Hrickos were preparing to go on a romantic weekend getaway to Harbourtowne that fateful Valentine's Day weekend, Kim was more interested in making sure she delivered some Valentine's Day presents and a note to Winkler.