A Lancaster man serving life in prison for killing his roommate in 2014 will get no relief from a Pennsylvania appellate court.
The state Superior Court denied Vandy Blankenship’s request that his interaction with police following the incident be reviewed and deemed inappropriate.
Blankenship spoke to police at length after he called 911 on Sept. 3, 2014, to report 60-year-old Donald Reinmiller was dead inside their apartment at 814 N. Lime St.
The Superior Court on Thursday issued an 8-page opinion denying the request, finding that Lancaster city police acted appropriately in their interaction with Blankenship.
A local jury convicted Blankenship last year of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman won the conviction. Assistant District Attorney Trista Boyd handled the appeal for the Commonwealth.
Blankenship, now 54, asked the appellate court to review a suppression motion his defense team made prior to trial regarding the police interaction.
Blankenship voluntarily spoke with police for several hours after the incident. He gave conflicting statements to what actually happened and those statements were introduced at trial.
Blankenship argued that he should have been read Miranda Rights before he spoke to police.
The appellate court ruled that Blankenship was not in custody and voluntarily spoke with police, so Miranda warnings were not necessary.
Lancaster city police Detective Aaron Harnish filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright