GUILTY PA - Andrew White, 32, shot to death, Easton, 11 March 2015

[JusticeWillBeServed]

'I don't hate you,' brother of murder victim tells killer at sentencing

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-easton-hotel-murder-jeffrey-knoble-sentenced-to-life-20170201-story.html

On a day in which Jeffrey S. Knoble Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder, it was his victim's family who took center stage.

White's family spoke of a fun-loving and nonjudgmental Easton man who always tried to help others. Despite a bitter trial, they even managed generous words toward the defendant, saying he would have been accepted into their family, if he'd only asked.

"I hated you," Justin White, the victim's brother told Knoble directly. "I hated you for two years. I don't hate you no more."

"I don't want you to die," added Natazia Edwards, the victim's niece. "I want you to sit and think about what you did. You hurt me. You hurt us."

Then Edwards also said something surprising.

"I'm going to pray for you, all right," she told Knoble, who nodded his head in thanks.

Wednesday's sentencing was a formality, since Giordano had no choice but to hand a life term to the 27-year-old Riegelsville man. Giordano tacked on additional prison time on other charges to which Knoble was found guilty, but it was a symbolic gesture given the life sentence.

Knoble appeared to react to the words of White's family. When he turned to them in the audience to address them, his eyes were puffy. He expressed remorse for an "ignorant" and "stupid decision," though he acknowledged his apology probably fell on deaf ears.

"I'll think about it for the rest of my life, and I'm sorry," Knoble said, addressing several of White's family members by name.

But the effect of Knoble's apology was soon dispelled. Immediately afterward, he turned to Giordano and began reciting legal claims that he was denied a fair trial, and lashing out at prosecutors and the evidence presented against him.

"May God have mercy on your soul," Giordano concluded, as the audience began clapping.