Killer failed to file in time

New Castle News

May 13, 2008 09:00 am

— By NANCY LOWRY
nlowry@ncnewsonline.com

An additional hearing may be required to determine if Floyd Monaco can present his argument to be released from prison.
Monaco, 58, pleaded guilty on Nov. 26, 1979, to a general murder charge for shooting former Pennsylvania State Trooper Albert J. Izzo Jr. on June 12, 1979. Izzo was working as an undercover agent with the drug enforcement bureau of Zelienople when he was shot by Monaco during a Mahoningtown drug raid.
Monaco’s plea was accepted by Senior Judge J. Quint Salmon who found the former Mahoningtown resident guilty of first degree murder. On Jan. 19, 1982, Monaco was sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been in jail since June 1979.
Monaco, now housed in the state correctional facility in Greensburg, filed a post-conviction relief act petition seeking his release from prison. This is the fourth time he has filed such a petition.
A veteran of the Marine Corps, Monaco served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. According to court papers filed by his attorney, Caroline M. Roberto of Pittsburgh, on April 26, 2007, Monaco was diagnosed with combat-related, post-traumatic stress disorder.
In court papers, Monaco said the disorder caused him to panic and fire his weapon when he was charged by armed, nonuniformed men on the day of the shooting. The disorder might also explain his behavior and drug addiction.
In light of the diagnosis, he said in court papers, he could qualify for a plea of third-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter. Both of those charges carry specific prison terms and provide the opportunity for parole.
However, before he can make those arguments, Monaco must prove that he filed his post-conviction relief act petition in a timely basis.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Minett contended that this was not done. Minett said Monaco had his diagnosis in 2005 and should have made his request then.
“It’s a question of what did he know and when did he know it,” Minett said after yesterday’s hearing. Under the law, Minett said, Monaco had 60 days to file his petition after the diagnosis was confirmed, Minett said.
“This is way beyond that,” he said.
Minett asked to see documents that Monaco and his attorney could not provide. If the documents show the case was not filed in a timely manner, the other points might never be argued, Minett said.
Senior Judge Michael J. Wherry, presiding yesterday over the second installment of Monaco’s case, heard testimony from Monaco and Tim Susengill, the Blair County Veterans Affairs Bureau director who helped Monaco to file his claim for post-traumatic stress disorder benefits.
Susengill, who met Monaco in 2002, said Monaco was evaluated three times for the disorder. The first doctor rejected his claim in 2004. When he was re-evaluated in April 2005, post-traumatic stress disorder was diagnosed.
However, Susengill said, Monaco had been transferred from the correctional facility in Huntingdon to Greensburg and the report, dated May 31, 2005, did not reach him until Aug. 15, 2005 — beyond the 60-day window he had to file an appeal. In September 2005, Susengill said, he reopened the claim.
“We had strong new evidence in the (second) psychiatric report,” Susengill said.
Monaco said he hadn’t heard of the disorder after his military discharge, but said it could explain his symptoms which include avoiding social contact, a jittery feeling in confined places and drug addition which he said was his effort at self-medication.
In Vietnam, he explained, he’d been a machine gunner and a “tunnel rat.”
Also in the courtroom yesterday morning were more than 20 police offices — most in uniform — representing Pennsylvania State Police and the state police motor carrier enforcement division and New Castle, Neshannock, Union, Hermitage and Northwest Lawrence Regional police departments. Also present were some city, state and township police officers — now retired — who had known and worked with Izzo.
Also present were family and friends of Monaco, who included several Marine Corps veterans who had served with him in Vietnam.
An earlier hearing, on March 26, included testimony of four veterans who testified they had served with Monaco in Vietnam and have since been diagnosed with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder.