FREEDOM BID FOR BEAST WHO SHAGGED DAUGHTER’S CORPSE
A FIEND serving a life sentence for murdering his stepdaughter and having sex with her corpse is seeking a new trial – claiming he “blacked out” after abusing drugs when he killed her.
Gregory R. Graf claims his lawyer was ineffective during his 2015 trial, when a jury needed less than six minutes to find him guilty of first- degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
And he reckons his court bid could lead to freedom.
In the filing, Graf, 55, offers a new account of what occurred in his home before he shot 33- year- old Jessica Padgett ( left) and hid her body.
Graf now claims he and Padgett, a mum- of- three from Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, got into an argument while he was high on magic mushrooms, alcohol and marijuana.
A statement from him, in which he refers to himself in the third person, reads: “When asked to leave, the victim started a fight with the defendant.
“The defendant blacked out in a fit of anger brought on by the row and the stress, and the reaction to the drugs and alcohol.
“The defendant shot and killed the victim and once sober, tried to cover up what had happened.”
District Attorney John Morganelli, of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, said he cannot recall any prior claims by Graf that he was on drugs.
Morganelli also noted that Graf’s petition makes no reference to the fact he later video- recorded himself sexually abusing Padgett’s corpse.
“He skips the sexual part,” Morganelli said.
The filing was dated July 17 by Graf ( left), who is being held at a state prison in Pennsylvania.
That same day, he appeared by video feed in Northampton County Court, during a hearing over his divorce with Padgett’s mother, Danelle Bittner, his wife.
Graf is refusing her demand for a divorce and is quibbling over the financial terms of the split.
Morganelli said he believes Graf’s legal challenges are “not going to go anywhere.”
“They’re frivolous claims,” Morganelli said. “I have a feeling it may be related to his divorce, because he’s unhappy about the freezing of his assets.”
Defence attorney Jack McMahon said he has done “everything possible” for his client in the criminal case and divorce proceedings.