Man Gets Life In Prison For Bedford Co. Murder
By Craig Schaffer
Jul 2, 2008, 07:59
A Bedford County man will spend the rest of his life in prison in the kidnapping and murder of a woman in April 2000.
The same jury that on Monday convicted 49-year-old Joseph Clark on Tuesday decided to forgo the death penalty in the murder of 25-year-old Holly Notestine.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty because Notestine was abducted and they say she was tortured. Notestine had a fractured skull and prosecutors believe she was stabbed two dozen times.
Because of intense local publicity, a jury from Butler County was bused in for Clark's first trial. That jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in February prompting a retrial with a jury selected in Dauphin County.
Clark denied killing Notestine and mouthed the words "thank you" to the jury when they spared him the death penalty.
