Jury selection in the case against Alex Hribal was set to begin Aug. 7 before Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani on Tuesday agreed to push the trial back at least a month to allow the defense more time to prepare its case.
Jury selection in the attempted murder trial of a former Franklin Regional High School student charged with trying to kill classmates during a knife rampage more than three years ago will begin Nov. 13.
Judge Christopher Feliciani told the lawyers he would grant no more delays in the trial, which is expected to take more than a week.
Trina Hribal quietly sat two rows behind as her son stood up, hands cuffed and legs shackled, and told a Westmoreland County judge that he will plead guilty to a knife rampage at Franklin Regional High School three years ago that injured 21 people, including four critically.
Alex Hribal, 20, of Murrysville will be sentenced in about three months. He faces decades in prison.
When asked why he was pleading guilty, Hribal softly responded, "Because I am guilty."
Hribal's plea did not come as part of a deal for reduced time or with the promise that any charges would be dismissed.
Feliciani told Hribal he could be sentenced up to 800 years in prison after an investigation by the county's probation department is completed in about three months. That investigation will focus on Hribal's personal history, mental health issues and victim impact all factors the judge said he will use in determining a sentence.
Peck met last week for about 90 minutes with many of the victims and their parents in the high school library to discuss Hribal's plea and a potential sentence. He said many victims, but not all, were satisfied with the outcome.
For the past four years, the only explanation for why a troubled 16-year-old took two kitchen knives to Franklin Regional High School and used them to slash and stab his classmates was a handwritten manifesto left in his school locker.
On Monday, Alex Hribal, now 20, is expected to speak in court for the first time at a hearing that will determine how long he'll spend in prison for the April 9, 2014, rampage that left 20 students and a security guard wounded.
"I expect he'll make a statement," said his defense attorney, Pat Thomassey.
A Murrysville man who was 16 when he stabbed 20 fellow students and a security guard at Franklin Regional High School was sentenced to 23-60 years in prison Monday.
"I would rather be in jail getting treatment for mental illness than free without it," Alex Hribal said at his sentencing hearing.
Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani also ordered the 20-year-old Hribal to pay $269,000 in restitution, and said he wants the young man to continue mental health treatments in prison.
Kaitlyn Shaw, who wasn't injured in the attack, described watching her classmates fall into pools of blood.
"I felt so guilty that I saw so many friends when I couldn't even help myself," Shaw testified.
Carter Boger, 18, was a middle school student who had just been dropped off for school when word of the attack surfaced. He said he and his mother rushed to the high school to learn his brother had been injured and being flown to a Pittsburgh hospital.
"I believe Hribal is the definition of pure evil. I would like you to see who Alex really is a terrorist," said Carter Boger.
The 60-year prison sentence imposed last week on Alex Hribal for his knife rampage at Franklin Regional High School is too long and should be cut in half, according to documents filed Friday in Westmoreland County.
Defense attorney Pat Thomassey asked Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani to reduce the sentence, which he called excessive and unreasonable, and impose a lesser term of 15 to 30 years in prison.
Alex Hribal hoped to get his 60-year prison sentence reduced by half for his conviction for trying to kill 20 students and a security guard during a knife rampage at Franklin Regional High School.
But the sentence will stand, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Friday.
Following a brief hearing, Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said he saw no reason to reduce the penalty imposed Jan. 22 on Alex Hribal and rejected a defense motion seeking to reduce the length of his prison term.
I am perplexed at this stage as to why I should cut the sentence in half, Feliciani ruled in denying the defense motion.
Gregory Keener, 19, of Murrysville filed a lawsuit Monday in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court against Hribal, his parents, Tina and Harold, the school district and the school's private security firm.
Keener was injured in the April 9, 2014, attack. His filing marks the first lawsuit in connection with the assault.
“At all relevant times, defendants Tina and Harold Hribal were aware of their son's intent to carry out this attack and were otherwise acutely aware of defendant Hribal's serious mental illnesses and propensity for violence prior to the attack. Despite this knowledge, defendants Tina and Harold Hribal failed to take action to prevent the attack or otherwise forewarn (the school district) or its students,” the 20-page lawsuit states.