FREE, BUT NOT CLEAR
MAN CONVICTED IN FATAL HEIST FREE ON BAIL; STILL FACES TRIAL ON SHOPLIFTING CHARGE IN 1992
“Victims and their families deserve a role in the process, but in this case, the family was wrongfully denied that opportunity. Not once was the family of the victim notified about Sheppard’s pending motion by either the board or the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office who prosecuted the case. The family never had the chance to voice their objection and let the board know how this convicted murderer continued to affect their lives.”
— Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A man who served nearly a quarter century in prison for robbery and murder before becoming the unwitting centerpiece in a politically charged discussion about the way the state’s Board of Pardons operates has been released on his own recognizance for an unrelated, 27-year-old shoplifting charge.
David Sheppard Sr. was expected to be transferred by his family to a halfway house as early as Monday night following a commutation of his life sentence signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on Dec. 4.
Sheppard was convicted of second-degree murder and related crimes in 1995 for his role in the 1992 slaying of Overbrook pharmacy owner Thomas F.X. Brannan during an armed robbery. Sheppard – who was a lookout and not the shooter – has been serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix.
Sheppard also was charged in 1992 with stealing five pairs of blue jeans from a now defunct store in Springfield. A bench warrant was issued in that case a year later, after he failed to appear at a court hearing.
Wolf previously indicated Sheppard accepted responsibility for the murder and showed remorse. By law, he will spend a year in a Community Corrections Center, after which he will be under supervision for the rest of his life, Wolf said.
The shoplifting charge remains open, however, and Sheppard is scheduled to return to the Delaware County courthouse Jan. 21 for trial, after Jack Stollsteimer takes the reigns as the first Democrat ever elected District Attorney in the county.
Outgoing Republican
District Attorney Katayoun Copeland had previously threatened to arrest Sheppard on the shoplifting charge once he was freed from state prison in the murder case. Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, both Democrats, criticized the move as an abuse of power, but Copeland argued her intentions were simply to give a voice to Brannan’s family members, who claim they were never contacted during the commutation proceedings.
“Victims and their families deserve a role in the process, but in this case, the family was wrongfully denied that opportunity,” said Copeland. “Not once was the family of the victim notified about Sheppard’s pending motion by either the board or the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office who prosecuted the case. The family never had the chance to voice their objection and let the board know how this convicted murderer continued to affect their lives.”
Copeland described Brannan’s death as “execution style” and said Sheppard presented facts in his commutation petition that were “in dire opposition” to those presented at trial, showing he still failed to accept responsibility for his
“I’m overwhelmed. It’s been plenty of years that we’ve been waiting for this and it’s finally happened. God has really been with him and he’s been blessed.”
— Crystal Sheppard, sister of David Sheppard Sr.
actions.
“I urge everyone who has been a victim in the state of Pennsylvania to make certain that they have registered with the victim advocate’s office,” said Evelyn Brannan Carpey, daughter of the murder victim. “We do not want what happened to us – being blindsided and disrespected – to happen to any other family.”
Prior to Monday’s hearing before Court of Com
mon Pleas Judge Anthony Scanlon, Fetterman sat down with Brannan’s family and Copeland. Fetterman said he was able to express his heartfelt condolences to the family, while Copeland said the family asked him to make specific changes to the commutation process to ensure victims are always notified and involved with those proceedings.
Fetterman, who was at the courthouse Monday, said contacting family members of victims is “an integral part” of the pardon and commutation process, and that if there was a breakdown in that system, the state needs to ensure it never happens again.
But he added that he believed the district attorney’s office had “dragged out” the process with the shoplifting charge in a way that diminishes justice and was the wrong way to go about having this discussion.
“The situation was one that you have an allegation of a crime that occurred in 1992, and the idea that it was invoked, I think, was just fundamentally wrong,” he said. “It finally ended today, from what I understand, and Mr. Sheppard is going to be able to join his family, and that’s the proper outcome.”
Attorneys familiar with the case said Sheppard had been offered a guilty plea deal on the shoplifting charge that came with no further punishment, but he did not accept.
Defense attorney Max Orenstein said he heard from Deputy District Attorney Daniel McDevitt about an hour before the 2 p.m. hearing indicating his office would agree to release Sheppard on his own recognizance ahead of trial.
“It’s not exactly clear to me (why), it’s not exactly clear why I learned when I learned it, but it’s kind of like an all’s well that ends well,” said Orenstein. “He’s obviously very happy that he’s going to be released.”
McDevitt is among a dozen attorneys who will be leaving the D.A.’s office when Stollsteimer is sworn in Jan. 6, so he won’t be prosecuting the case when Sheppard returns for trial next month.
Orenstein said he has not spoken to Stollsteimer, but he hopes to discuss the case with him ahead of the Jan. 21 trial date. Stollsteimer was also present for the hearing but did not comment.
Orenstein was also critical of Copeland’s handling of the case, saying it resulted in his client spending more days in prison than he should have.
“I still feel that it was an abuse of power,” he said. “I’m glad that they saw the light when the rubber met the road and it was time to address the matter in court.”
As for Sheppard’s family, they were all smiles when greeting reporters outside the courthouse Monday afternoon.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said
Sheppard’s sister, Crystal. “It’s been plenty of years that we’ve been waiting for this and it’s finally happened. God has really been with him and he’s been blessed.”
“I just don’t understand why they didn’t do that Friday, why they had to draw everything out,” said his son, Devin. “You all could have did this Friday, it ain’t nothing but a piece of paper – ROR, here you go.”
Devin Sheppard, wearing a “Free Wavy” necklace in support of his father, said he understood someone’s life was taken and that the district attorney’s intention was to draw attention to the victim’s family because they felt they weren’t getting enough recognition.
“At the end of the day, somebody’s life did get took,” he said. “We’re not happy about that. But at the same time, we want our dad right here with us, the same way they want their dad with them. We can’t change whatever happened 20-however many years ago. All we can do is just keep it pushing. We ain’t going backwards. We’re moving forwards.”