On Sept. 11, 2006, as the nation was observing the fifth anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks on America, now-convicted child killer Nathan Shaw, 27, Tyrone, was in a Blair County jail cell awaiting his trial for the brutal knife murder of six-year-old Tyrone boy Jared Klein.
\nAt about 2 p.m. that day, Shaw was in need of a mop. Due to a \u201cplumbing issue\u201d, there was water on the floor of his Hollidaysburg prison cell and, according to corrections officers on duty, Shaw was told he would get the mop to clean his cell.
\nMoments later, however, Shaw allegedly attacked Blair County corrections officer Robert Miller, repeatedly punching him in the face, an action that resulted in an \u201call-call code red\u201d during which, dozens of guards were summoned to C Block where the exchange took place. Prison officials say Shaw was restrained by Miller and others within minutes; however Miller was badly injured, with a huge gash in his forehead and a broken nose, the result of the alleged attack.
\nThursday, Blair County Judge Timothy Sullivan presided over Shaw\u2019s latest criminal trial and a jury of seven men and five women heard testimony from a \u201ccattle call\u201d of guards who were on duty the day of the alleged attack, along with two medical expert witnesses who treated the guard. Shaw, who\u2019s now serving a life sentence without parole for Klein\u2019s day-after-Christmas killing in 2005, is being charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, assault by a prisoner and reckless endangerment.
\nShaw\u2019s court-appointed attorney, Theodore Krol, indicated, while Shaw admits to \u201cmuch of what\u2019s being claimed,\u201d that he will seek to prove that Miller \u201cbullied\u201d the accused and that Shaw acted in self defense.
\nOfficer Miller was the first witness for the prosecution, describing the events of the day in question. The corrections officer said Shaw was using a cup to \u201cbeat on the glass\u201d separating C Block from a vestibule where Miller was stationed. He said Shaw was \u201cscreaming\u201d obscenities; \u201csomething about needing a mop,\u201d and when Miller entered the block to address Shaw\u2019s behavior, Shaw \u201csucker punched\u201d him in the nose with a \u201cclosed fist.\u201d Miller said he attempted to subdue Shaw by grasping Shaw by the shoulders of his orange jumpsuit. He then said he forced Shaw into the shower area of the block, at which time Shaw \u201ccontinued to come at\u201d Miller.
\nMiller said after being struck in the nose, things became \u201cfuzzy\u201d and he had trouble remembering all of the details of the encounter, but recalled that as they struggled, they ended up in a cell, where Miller said he was able to restrain Shaw on a bunk until help arrived. Miller testified that, prior to the arrival of other guards, Shaw \u201ccontinued to punch\u201d him in the head repeatedly as blood streamed from the correction officer\u2019s face.
\nNumerous other officers corroborated Miller\u2019s account, including control room operator Frank Roberts, who witnessed the encounter and was the one who put out the \u201call call code red\u201d for assistance.
\n\u201cBefore the attack, Shaw was banging a cup against the glass, screaming, I need a f***ing mop,\u201d Roberts testified. \u201cOfficer Miller entered the block to try to calm Mr. Shaw down and to let him know that a mop was coming.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s when Mr. Shaw attacked him.\u201d
\nDr. David Higgins, the nose, ear and throat specialist who treated Miller following the attack, testified that the injuries Miller suffered were consistent with a hard punch to the face. He described the severity of the injuries to Miller\u2019s nose, explaining that it was \u201cpushed to the right\u201d and there were \u201cextensive internal injuries\u201d that required a great deal of surgery.
\n\u201cThese injuries were much more severe than a typical broken nose,\u201d Dr. Higgins said. \u201cI see this type of injury maybe once or twice a year. Officer Miller\u2019s injuries were consistent with ones caused by multiple blows.\u201d
\nThe gash on Miller\u2019s forehead required 11 staples and he still has a sizable scar.
\nIn a strange twist, following lunch break and prior to the jury\u2019s return, Shaw addressed the court, stating that, as he was leaving the courtroom, he looked out a courthouse window and saw a female juror speaking to a member of murder victim Klein\u2019s family, many of whom were in attendance at Thursday\u2019s proceedings. Shaw\u2019s testimony, an apparent attempt to force a mistrial, was quickly contradicted by a reporter for The Daily Herald who was covering the trial. The reporter, who had exited the courthouse with Klein\u2019s family, testified that at no time did any jurors approach any of Jared\u2019s family.
\nAfter interviewing the juror, Judge Sullivan allowed her to remain. Day two of Shaw\u2019s trial resumes today as the prosecution, led by Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio, has one more witness to call. The defense will then get its chance to rebuff, and Shaw is expected to take the stand in his own defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Sept. 11, 2006, as the nation was observing the fifth anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks on America, now-convicted child killer Nathan Shaw, 27, Tyrone, was in a Blair County jail cell awaiting his trial for the brutal knife murder of six-year-old Tyrone boy Jared Klein. At about 2 p.m. that day, Shaw was in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area","category-excerpts-from-the-tyrone-daily-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}