Bridgewater councilman whose murder conviction was thrown out files federal suit

A former Bridgewater councilman who spent 10 years in prison before his third-degree murder conviction was thrown out is suing the law enforcement officers who charged him, alleging that they ignored evidence that showed his innocence.

Gregory Scott Hopkins, who was arrested in 2012 in connection with the Sept. 1, 1979, death of a woman with whom he’d been in a sexual relationship, filed the lawsuit this week in federal court.

The defendants include: Andrew J. Gall Jr., who was an officer in the Monaca Police Department and later a detective with the Beaver County Detective Bureau and was among the first to arrive at the crime scene; Rocco S. DeMaiolo, was the lead cold case investigator with the Pennsylvania State Police; and Ashlee Mangan, who worked in serology for the state police at the Greensburg Regional Laboratory.

The lawsuit includes claims for malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence and civil conspiracy.

Hopkins, who is now in his mid-70s, is seeking monetary damages for lost wages, as well as for emotional and mental harm, including fear and humiliation.

“The defendants in this case do not deserve to wield the power we’ve given them,” said Hopkins’ attorney, Alec B. Wright, in a statement. “The false criminal narrative that they created against Mr. Hopkins is patently absurd and beyond implausible. They should be ashamed and rejected for what they did to Mr. Hopkins.

“As for Mr. Hopkins, his fight for justice goes on with the filing of this case.”

A spokesman for the state police said he could not comment on pending litigation. Messages left for Gall were not immediately returned.

Janet Walsh, 23, of Monaca, was found dead on the bed in her apartment with her hands bound behind her back and naked from the waist down.

Based on her body’s position when she was found, the lawsuit said, investigators immediately believed the crime was sexual in nature.

However, there was no evidence of sexual assault, and investigators ruled it out at the time. The pathologist determined Walsh died from strangulation.

Although there were several suspects, including Walsh’s estranged husband; another man she met the night before she died; and Hopkins, who had been in a relationship with Walsh that summer, no charges were filed at the time.

However, in 2010, according to the lawsuit, Walsh’s death investigation was renewed in 2010 when Mangan got a federal grant to test seminal fluid in cold cases.

Mangan met with Gall and DeMaiolo, who has since retired. They told Mangan they did not believe Walsh was killed in the course of either voluntary or involuntary sexual activity, the lawsuit said.

Still, they moved forward to retest the rape kit, which was negative for semen. They then chose to use an alternative light source to review other evidence from the case.

That light source revealed more than 100 potential sources of DNA on the physical evidence, the lawsuit said. Still, the investigators focused only on 13 specific areas.

“Every decision as to what to test and how to test it in connection with the physical evidence was made together by the investigatory defendants and against the advice of PSP leadership,” the lawsuit said.

When law enforcement later sought a DNA sample from the potential suspects, only Hopkins asked to consult an attorney first.

“Because Mr. Hopkins exercised his constitutional right to a lawyer, the investigatory defendants met and discussed how they were going to get him, by whatever means necessary.”

The lawsuit then accused the detectives of arranging for a secretary at the municipal office where Hopkins served as a councilman to retrieve a cup from the water cooler trash can immediately after he used it and threw it away.

The DNA testing showed Hopkins matched three of the 13 samples.

He was charged thereafter. Hopkins denied the allegations and claimed he hadn’t sex with Walsh for three to four weeks before her death.

But at trial, prosecutors called renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht. He testified that the seminal fluid found that matched Hopkins’ DNA would have been deposited around the time Walsh was killed — given its location on her nightgown, a bed sheet and the belt to her robe.

At trial, he called his theory “topographical distribution.”

Although the jury bought it and found Hopkins guilty of third-degree murder, the state Superior Court did not.

Hopkins argued on appeal that Wecht’s testimony was not based on accepted science and that it should not have been permitted. The Superior Court agreed and threw out the conviction and remanded for a new trial.

In its opinion, the appellate court wrote that there was no scientific methodology to support Wecht’s theory of “topographical distribution.”

The Beaver County District Attorney’s office appealed and asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear the case, but it refused. In January, the district attorney announced Hopkins would not face another trial.

The lawsuit asserts that there were several other potential suspects that the police should have focused their efforts on, including Walsh’s ex-husband and a man she met the night before she was found dead.

It also accuses investigators of ignoring evidence that could have helped clear Hopkins’, as well as potentially incriminating evidence against the other suspects.