MELVIN L. KNIGHT | Greensburg Six Torture-Murder of Jennifer Daugherty | Sex Killer Given Death Penalty For Making His Disabled Victim Drink A Cocktail Of Urine, Feces And Cigarette Ash Before Murdering Her | Lot of 4 ALS

Melvin Knight. Lot of 4 ALS. Pmks: (1) September 23, 2015, (2) September 24, 2015, (3) October 5, 2015, (4) October 22, 2015. SEALED. Contents unknown. Pristine.

Melvin was born to a drug-addicted father who was imprisoned during the early years of his life. He developed lifelong learning and social problems after he fell out of a moving vehicle and hit his head at age 5. He is said to have a mental age of between nine and 12.

Torture

According to a testimony by Amber Meidinger (hereinafter referred to as “Amber”) met Melvin Knight (hereinafter referred to as “Melvin”) at a homeless shelter in Washington in January 2010. They moved to several locations before settling in Greensburg, PA, where they met Jennifer Daugherty (hereinafter referred to as “Jenny”). Melvin met Ricky Smyrnes (hereinafter referred to as “Ricky”) after meeting previously in jail, the group went through her purse and stole money, gift cards, and her cell phone. They poured liquids into her bag, hit her head with filled soda bottles, cut her hair, painted her face with nail polish, and dumped liquid and spices on her head. Amber said she and Angela Marinucci (hereinafter referred to as “Amber”) took turns violently hitting Jenny with a metal towel rack and crutches. She also noted that Jenny was stripped naked, gagged, and raped by Melvin. They also forced her to consume feces, urine, and detergent. Amber also said Melvin took Jenny to the living room where Angela poured a bottle of water over Jenny’s head and Melvin and Ricky dumped oatmeal and spices on her head. Jenny said that her eyes were burning, and Ricky told her to take a shower because she smelled bad.

Murder

According to his testimony, Robert Masters helped Jenny retrieve her clothes that Melvin and Ricky had stripped from her and tossed out a window on the first day of the beatings. Before Jenny could get her clothes and get out, Melvin and Ricky returned to the apartment at 428 N. Pennsylvania Ave. As a result, the group voted to kill her. Peggy Miller decided to tie her with Christmas lights. They forced her to write a fake suicide note and then stabbed her to death. Ricky gave Melvin a steak knife and stabbed her in the chest and throat.ⁱ

Ultimately, Ricky and Melvin left the apartment with Jenny’s body in a plastic bag inside a garbage can. Upon returning, they told the others they had left the can under a truck. The G6 then went to bed.

The victim’s body was discovered later that morning by a man who found the garbage can underneath his work truck in a middle school parking lot. He contacted police, who launched an investigation, and Jenny’s body was identified.

Dr. Cyril Wecht, the forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy on the body, received the body while it was still in the garbage can – placed head first, partially covered with plastic bags, with Christmas lights wrapped around the neck and wrists, and a decorative material binding the ankles. The body had suffered multiple incised wounds, abrasions, and contusions, and several prescription drugs were found in Jenny’s system. Dr. Wecht concluded the cause of death was a combination of all of the injuries, but was primarily due to stab wounds of the chest, which penetrated the left lung and went into the heart, producing a substantial hemorrhage. Dr. Wecht opined these injuries were inflicted shortly before death, with the intent to cause pain and suffering: Jenny would have remained conscious after the initial infliction of the wounds, bled for a couple of minutes, lost consciousness, and finally died within four to six minutes.

A Westmoreland County jury had sentenced Melvin Knight to death by lethal injection in August 2013, but the commonwealth’s highest court ordered a new penalty trial in November 2016 after finding that jurors were not told that Knight had no criminal record.

Department of Corrections Acting Secretary George Little signed a Notice of Execution setting August 23, 2022, for the execution of Melvin Knight, who was sentenced to death in Westmoreland County.

• VIDEO: The Greensburg Six: The Murder of Jennifer Daugherty | https://youtu.be/3hqWI-upZDk

• VIDEO: Jury delivers death penalty verdict in Melvin Knight sentencing trial | https://youtu.be/r0nB_kmd0Hw

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