Supreme Court upholds death sentence of Richard Laird of 1987 murder of Anthony Milano
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari filed by Richard Roland Laird, upholding his first-degree murder conviction and sentence of death for the 1987 murder of artist Anthony Milano in Bristol Township.
The denial concludes the final federal appeal in the matter, Richard Roland Laird v. Laurel Harry, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al.
Laird’s petition was an appeal of a federal habeas corpus decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, representing the Respondents, had filed a Brief in Opposition requesting the Court to deny the petition and maintain the conviction and sentence.
Richard Laird, of Bristol Township, and his accomplice Frank Chester were first convicted and sentenced in 1989 for the brutal slaying of the 26-year-old Anthony Milano. Milano was kidnapped, repeatedly slashed, and beaten before his body was found in a wooded area near Venice Ashby and his vehicle was set on fire.
