A status hearing was scheduled to be held this morning for Ronald Weiss, whose conviction in the death of Barbara Bruzda was overturned in 2018, and that prompted some peaceful protesters outside the Indiana County Courthouse this morning.
The hearing was scheduled to be held today in front of Judge Tom Bianco. In 1997, Weiss was convicted of killing Bruzda on October 23, 1978. Bruzda was last seen alive leaving her family’s pub in Tunnelton after playing pool with Weiss. She was found months later dead in a wooded area, wrapped in a blanket. She was killed by a blunt force trauma to the head.
During the trial, some testimony came from two jailhouse informants who claimed Weiss admitted killing Bruzda to them.
The testimony from the informants was called into question by Weiss’ attorney in 2018 and a federal judge threw out the conviction. The judge said that Weiss was not given a fair trial because the prosecution never revealed that the informants were rewarded for their testimony.
Peggy Bruzda, one of the organizers of the Voices for Barbie Bruzda Facebook group and the wife of Barbara’s brother David, said it is painful every time that a new hearing comes up.
She said she was grateful for the support of the supporters on Facebook, but she said that the state attorney general’s office asked them to shut down the page.
The status hearing is set for 11:00 this morning.
