Accused Lansdale killer wants statements out of trial
NORRISTOWN >> A Lansdale man accused of using a butter knife to try to pull out his father’s eye while fatally stabbing him at their home wants to prevent a jury from hearing his alleged incriminating statements to police, claiming they were illegally obtained.
Preston Alvin Lonnberg-Lane, 30, of the 1000 block of Delaware Avenue, through his lawyer, argued he requested a lawyer and was not provided any and was made to sit in a jail cell for several hours before he allegedly spoke to police without a lawyer.
“In this situation, it is clear that Mr. LonnbergLane’s will was overborne by police conduct that denied him his right to counsel and his right to remain silent, and as such, his statement should be suppressed,” defense lawyer Carrie L. Allman wrote in pretrial documents filed in Montgomery County Court.
Allman, the chief homicide lawyer for the county’s Office of Public Defender, argued Lonnberg-Lane’s
statement was not voluntary and should be prevented from being heard by a jury. Allman suggested Lonnberg-Lane, who allegedly told investigators he had snorted fentanyl in the hours before the March 27 killing, was intoxicated at the time of the statement and did not have the sufficient mental capacity to know what he was saying or to voluntarily provide a statement.
“Mr. Lonnberg-Lane is noted to be incoherent at times in his statement. There is clear evidence of intoxication, both in what Mr. Lonnberg-Lane said, and how he acted, yet a statement was taken anyway,” Allman argued.
Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood will have the chance to respond to the defense request when Judge Wendy G. Rothstein holds a pretrial hearing in the case. Rothstein previously set Lonnberg-Lane’s trial date for Jan. 28, 2019. The trial is expected to last five days.
Lonnberg-Lane is charged with first- and third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the death of his adoptive father, 74-yearold Thomas Lane, at their single-family residence.
If he’s convicted of firstdegree murder, which is an intentional killing, Lonnberg-Lane faces a sentence of life imprisonment. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
An investigation began at 4:44 a.m. March 27 when Lonnberg-Lane called 911 and reported he “tried to kill everybody in the house.”
“I, I need help…I need, you guys got to get some people here quick…like there’s people dead,” Lonnberg-Lane told emergency dispatchers, according to a criminal complaint.
As dispatchers continued to talk to LonnbergLane he allegedly admitted to hurting someone and uttered, “I need help… there’s something wrong… I don’t know what’s going on…I don’t know what to do,” according to the arrest affidavit.
When Lansdale police arrived at the residence, they found LonnbergLane standing barefoot in the driveway and observed he had an injury to his left hand and blood on his Tshirt, according to court documents.
Another resident of the home directed police to a bedroom where they located Thomas Lane “bloodied and on the floor of the bedroom.” Police said Thomas Lane is the adoptive father of Lonnberg-Lane.
“Thomas Lane had a traumatic right eye avulsion and his eye was located on the floor. Thomas Lane was semi-conscious and officers observed apparent stab wounds to his head, neck and arm,” county Detective John Wittenberger and Lansdale Detective Joel Greco alleged in the arrest affidavit.
“Adjacent to Thomas Lane, officers observed blood stains on top of a bed and a butter knife,” detectives added.
Thomas Lane was transported by medical helicopter to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in critical condition but died two days later, at 2:59 p.m. March 29, court documents indicate. An autopsy determined Thomas Lane’s cause of death was “hyperextensive brain hemorrhage” and the manner of death was listed as homicide.
“Additional pertinent findings were evidence of strangulation and cutting wounds to the head, neck and face,” detectives alleged.
When detectives interviewed Lonnberg-Lane he said he had snorted what he believed to be two bags of fentanyl at 3:30 a.m. March 27 and attempted to sleep.
“Lonnberg-Lane said he was listening to music and ‘got up and grabbed a butter knife from the kitchen and tried to kill my dad,’” Greco and Wittenberger alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Lonnberg-Lane allegedly told detectives he stabbed his adoptive father in the neck, punched him, placed him in a choke hold and “tried to pull out his eye,” according to the criminal complaint.
Lonnberg-Lane said he stopped the attack after hearing his father utter, “Preston, Preston, what are you doing?” detectives alleged.