U.S. Supreme Court upholds death sentence given to Bristol man for killing a gay man in 1987

U.S. Supreme Court upholds death sentence given to Bristol man for killing a gay man in 1987

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld a Bristol man's first-degree murder conviction and death sentence from a 1987 killing of a gay man. The first-of-its-kind hate crime case comes as Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions.

Supreme Court Ends 38-Year Saga: Killer in Nation’s First Anti-Gay Murder Case Faces Death

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the final appeal of convicted murderer Richard Roland Laird, effectively upholding his death sentence for the 1987 killing of 26-year-old artist Anthony Milano in Bristol Township — a case that marked a landmark moment in U.S. criminal justice history. In its decision Monday, the nation’s highest court denied Laird’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in Richard Roland Laird v. Laurel H…