Posted on 06/24/2009 4:56:07 AM PDT by buzzyboop
Screaming and covered in blood, Demi Cuccia ran from her Monroeville home to the arms of neighbor Gayle Slomer.
"I held my hand on her chest, trying to stop the blood from flowing out of her body. I cradled her and talked to her. I said, 'Stay with me, Demi. Stay with me,' " Slomer told an Allegheny County jury Tuesday. "She lifted her head, she must have seen John coming out. She screamed at him, 'Get away from me. I hate you. Get away from me. I hate you."
She was running from John Mullarkey, her on-again, off-again boyfriend whose lawyer explained to jurors that acne medication was partly to blame for the 2007 slaying.
"I'm not standing here saying that this medicine, that and that alone, excuses him of responsibility," defense attorney Robert Stewart said. "You have to look at the surrounding history of these two.
"What you have is an unfortunate combination of factors, a perfect storm, of what led to the tragic incident."
Stewart said Mullarkey, 20, experienced mood swings and depression from the drug Accutane before killing Cuccia, 16, a cheerleader at Gateway High School.
Deputy District Attorney Mark V. Tranquilli disputed the idea that a "pimple pill" was partly to blame. He told the jury of seven men and five women that Mullarkey stabbed Cuccia 16 times on Aug. 15, 2007, and then slashed his throat.
"From John Mullarkey's perspective, this case is about the redirection of blame -- from him, the man who wielded the knife, to a faceless prescription drug that cures pimples," Tranquilli said. "This is about a disgruntled boyfriend who was getting ready to get ditched."
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
I will state the obvious: Mullarkey is the perfect name for the murderer AND his lawyer.
The age old Mullarkey Defense...
Prosecution will put the squeeze on this defense.
“What you have is an unfortunate combination of factors, a perfect storm, of what led to the tragic incident.”
This is why lawyers should be put in a sack and then beaten with bats.
The asswipe stabbed the girl 16 times. Nothing accidental there. Sick and tired of this pill or that pill or this family situation is to blame. We all take pills,we all have family situations, but very few of us stab someone 16 times.
If it's so safe why do patients have to sign a waiver? Something smells rotten.
Guy needs to pay for his crime anyhow.
You know how to save a lawyer from drowning? Shoot him dead before he hits the water.
I believe the side effects they are referring to, has to do with women who can reproduce. Accutane is highly potent for a baby. Most women who take the drug are on two birth control medicines. It causes all kinds of damage to the baby.
Yeah. 'Til it pops!
20 and 16...there’s the first problem.
Correct. Girls have to effectively sign affidavits that they are using birth control pills while on the drug. They are required to be on the pill to use it. They have to complete an online questionnaire every month they use Accutane. It is some powerful stuff that can cause horrific birth defects should they get pregnant.
Have prescribed accutane for tens of thousands of patients...NONE of them have killed anyone thus far...
Where's the Father of the girl, you know, the one with the duty to protect her?
Side effects of Accutane are also depression and suicidal tendacies.
I didn’t know they still perscribed this.
The guards gotta watch this guy real close. He could break out any minute.
This explains a lot about my late teenage years...
I don’t remember signing that particular waver. Of course, it was still kinda experimental when I was on it.
I remember my brother was on this a short while as a teen in the 80’s. Horrible drug. His mood changed and he became quite mean, often spending most of this day locked in his room. After a while my parents chucked it out and the change was remarkable. He was a different person and it was like his personality came back for lack of a better description.
The murder was in 2007. I’m guessing the boy is 20 now and was only 18 when the crime occurred.
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