The man charged in the death of Tyrone Neptune Fire Chief Ray Stringer will have to wait until at least March before his trial in Cambria County Court.
George Lightcap, 29, of Nanty Glo, was charged in the August incident that happened at the Nanty Glo VFW after Mr. Stringer had attended a firefighters convention elsewhere in town.
After his October preliminary hearing, Lightcap was eventually scheduled for trial on Jan. 3, 2006. A pre-trial conference was held last week. The trial date was continued until the next term of the court in March, according to the Cambria County District Attorney’s office.
An altercation in the early morning hours of Aug. 19 led to homicide charges for Lightcap. He was charged the same day in the death of the 43-year-old long-time firefighter.
Stringer was pronounced dead at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center’s trauma center a little more than an hour after the incident.
An autopsy was conducted and Stringer’s death was attributed to asphyxiation due to head trauma. In August, the Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski stated Stringer suffered blunt force injury to the brain. He said it was “a bludgeoning death”. The coroner said the death was ruled a homicide.
Kwiatkowski said no weapon was used on Stringer, but the injuries were caused “apparently (with) fists.”
The Associated Press reported a police officer, William Hines, said the fight stemmed from an argument between 1 and 2 a.m. in a doorway just outside the bar in the Nanty-Glo Veterans of Foreign Wars building. The officer said both men had been drinking.
Stringer was in Nanty-Glo for the Central District Volunteer Fireman’s Convention. Event officials said Stringer’s death was not connected with anyone involved with the convention.
Funeral services for Stringer were held on Aug. 23 with fireman’s procession honors.
Lightcap was bound for trial on charges of criminal homicide and aggravated assault after a magisterial district judge ruled at the preliminary hearing that the case should continue to trial.
At the preliminary hearing, defense attorneys asked that charges be dismissed while prosecutors contended they had presented reasonable and probable cause to establish a prima fascia case. Judge Zanghi agreed and the charges against Lightcap were bound to Cambria County Court.
After the hearing, prosecutor Gary Costlow said, “It’s obvious we have a prima fascia case, we have a death and we have a person involved in an altercation.”
Defense attorney Robert Gleason said, “I don’t think we have a first degree murder case, it’s a self defense case, which would mean acquittal.”
Costlow said the testimony “didn’t seem to establish self defense.” He said prosecutors would continue with a general charge of homicide.
It was announced in November that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.
Barring the possibility of a plea bargain, the next possible date for the trial will be in March. The spokesperson for the DA’s office said no actual new trial date had been set as of Thursday.
Lightcap has been held without bail since the time of his arrest.
