Murder suspect seeks public defender
NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend during an altercation in the borough is “indigent” and wants a judge to appoint a lawyer to represent him at his court hearings, according to court documents.
Sean Patrick Emmell met with a member of the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office on Jan. 9 and “indicated his need for counsel,” Carrie L. Allman, chief homicide lawyer for the public defender’s office, wrote in a petition filed in county court on Jan. 10. Allman said the need for a court-appointed lawyer was confirmed during discussions with Emmell’s family.
“Mr. Emmell is 24 years old, indigent, incarcerated and qualifies for the services of the Public Defender’s Office,” Allman wrote.
The request is now in the hands of a judge who likely will rule on the matter before Emmell’s Jan. 23 preliminary hearing.
Emmell, of the 400 block of North Washington Street, faces charges of first- and third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the Jan. 3 fatal knife attack of 20-year-old Joshua Shupard. Emmell is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail while awaiting court action.
A conviction of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, can carry possible penalties of life imprisonment or death. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20-to-40years in prison.
Shupard died at 6:46 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Reading Hospital. An autopsy determined Shupard died from complications of a stab wound to the chest.
An investigation began about 11:56 p.m. Jan. 3 when borough police were dispatched to the 500 block of North Franklin Street for a report of a stabbing. Arriving officers found Shupard seated in the driver’s seat of his green Mercury Mountaineer, “bleeding profusely from a large chest wound,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Detective Heather Long and county Detective John Wittenberger.
Police observed Emmell “crying while on his knees on an adjacent sidewalk,” Long and Wittenberger alleged.
“Officers observed that Emmell’s hands were blood stained. Approximately three-feet from Emmell, resting on the street, was a blood-stained, serrated folding knife,” detectives alleged.
A 19-year-old woman at the scene told detectives Shupard was her boyfriend and that she had a prior relationship with Emmell.
The woman allegedly told detectives Emmell had raped her during their relationship and she reported one of the rapes to police on Oct. 6, 2018, according to the criminal complaint.
The woman said that on Jan. 3 she agreed to meet Emmell because he was threatening to interfere with her recent recruitment in the U.S. military and that she told Shupard to “drive around and keep any eye out” because she did not trust Emmell, according to the arrest affidavit.
“In addition to having Joshua Shupard in the area of the meeting place, she armed herself with a folding knife,” detectives alleged. “(The woman) explained the knife was previously given to her for self-protection by Shupard after she had been raped by Emmell.”
The woman, driving a silver-colored Hyundai, picked up Emmell on North Evans Street and parked in front of the Pottstown Middle School at 546 N. Franklin St. After “talking for a while,” the woman told Emmell she had to leave, detectives alleged.
Emmell allegedly became angry and told the woman he “wanted to have fun first,” according to the criminal complaint. The woman told detectives Emmell groped her and pushed a thumb tack to her throat, while telling her to recline her car seat, court papers indicate.
“(The woman) opened her driver’s side door and produced the opened folding knife, telling Emmell that he would not hurt her again,” Long and Wittenberger alleged. “Emmell was able to take the knife from (the woman) and threatened to stab her in the leg if she didn’t recline her chair.”
The woman activated her car’s horn and placed her leg outside the driver’s door to “signal” Shupard, who approached the Hyundai and inquired about what was happening, according to court documents. Emmell exited the woman’s vehicle and she told Shupard to “run” and informed Shupard that Emmell had her knife, detectives alleged.
The woman told detectives she exited her car and observed Shupard, who was stabbed once, and Emmell holding onto each other against the Mercury Mountaineer.
“Shupard was able to strike Emmell with his fist and separate himself from Emmell. (The woman) watched as Emmell then stabbed Shupard in the chest,” detectives alleged.
The woman told detectives that after the stabbing she heard Emmell state, “I wanted to kill Josh,” according to court papers.
When detectives interviewed Emmell on Jan. 4, he claimed he met with the woman to “fix our relationship issues,” according to the criminal complaint. Emmell allegedly admitted to attempting to kiss the woman and touch her and then disarming her of the knife.
Emmell allegedly admitted to a confrontation with Shupard and admitted swinging the knife at Shupard three times, inflicting a wound to Shupard’s neck on the third swing, according to court papers.
According to Emmell’s statement, as the woman grabbed Emmell to calm him down Emmell saw Shupard walk in their direction. Emmell then stabbed Shupard in the chest, detectives alleged.
Emmell also admitted to raping the woman on three previous occasions.
“Emmell also told detectives that he wanted to kill Joshua Shupard in the past when he had seen Shupard and (the woman) together,” Long and Wittenberger alleged.
In addition to the murder-related charges, Emmell faces charges of rape, sexual assault and unlawful restraint in connection with alleged crimes committed against his ex-girlfriend.