A man will serve the rest of his life in prison for his role in the brutal killings of two brothers last year at their Lancaster city home.
Lancaster County Judge David Ashworth ordered that sentence Monday afternoon when 19-year-old Joshua Proper pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and related charges regarding the Feb. 19, 2017, killings of Leroy Kinsey and Richard Walton.
Proper and Juan Cristo-Munoz broke into the brothers’ Poplar Street home where the disabled victims were stabbed repeatedly and beaten.
Kinsey, who used a wheelchair, was stabbed at least ten times in his living room.
Walton, an amputee, was stabbed 54 times in an upstairs bedroom; a sword was used in his killing.
In court, Assistant District Attorney Christine L. Wilson said Proper’s role in the killings was “less significant” than Cristo-Munoz’s. Cristo-Munoz previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to consecutive life terms.
Wilson said the guilty pleas bring some justice and closure for the victims’ families who continue to suffer from the “unspeakable” and “senseless” acts.
Proper bowed his head as Walton’s son offered his forgiveness.
“He will have to live with this for the rest of his life,” Alan Walton said. “And we will have to live with this as well.”
Lancaster city police found Proper and Cristo-Munoz hiding in the basement of the home. Cristo-Munoz was covered in blood and had three knives on and around him.
Proper provided a confession to police and has shown remorse, according to court testimony.
He stabbed Kinsey, but did not participate in the actual attack of Walton, according to his attorneys; investigators found nothing to the contrary.
Judge Ashworth did credit Proper for taking responsibility from the start, but stressed that “does not in any way diminish your responsibility in this case.”
Lancaster city police Detective Eric McCrady, who filed charges, was in court for the hearing.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright