CLEARFIELD — The final Post Conviction Relief Hearing for Daniel Crispell, 43, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering a St. Marys woman, got under way Monday afternoon.

Crispell was convicted in 1990 of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges.

On Oct. 28, 1989, Crispell, then 18, and Christopher Weatherhill, then 17, kidnapped Ella Brown at knifepoint in the parking lot of the DuBois Mall. They drove her car to a deserted area, took her cash and jewelry and stabbed her to death before fleeing in her car. Her body was found the next day.

The two men were later apprehended in Arizona. They were found sleeping in Brown’s car on the side of the road by Tucson police, and were arrested and returned to Pennsylvania.

Weatherhill was convicted at trial in 1990 on the charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and other charges and was sentenced to life in prison.

At a June 1990 trial, Crispell was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death. Gov. Tom Corbett signed his death warrant in 2010. However, it was later discovered that Crispell’s PCRA hearing was still pending in Clearfield County, so senior Judge John B. Leete of Potter County stayed his conviction until his hearing could be resolved.

Crispell’s attorneys, Victor Abreu and Billy Nolas, federal assistant public defenders, argued for relief from the court saying Crispell received ineffective counsel during the sentencing phase of his trial and the commonwealth did not provide the necessary information in a timely matter.

Attorney F. Cortez “Chip” Bell III of Clearfield, who is also the court administrator of Clearfield County, testified for the entire afternoon under questioning by Abreu.

Bell said he got involved in the case because he was chief public defender of Clearfield County in 1990 and once Crispell’s application for representation was approved, Bell said he appointed himself and Judge Paul Cherry, who was employed in the public defender’s office at the time, to represent Crispell.

President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman was the Clearfield County district attorney at the time and represented the commonwealth at Crispell’s trial in 1990.

Abreu questioned Bell on why he did not raise Crispell’s psychological condition as a mitigating factor during the sentencing phase of the trial and why he never had a psychological evaluation performed on Crispell as a part of his defense.

Bell said he did not raise the psychology as a mitigating factor during the sentencing phase because it was inconsistent with their defense that Crispell did not commit the murder and said Crispell denied committing the murder on the stand during sentencing.

Abreu showed Bell a report from a psychiatrist who examined Crispell three years prior to the trial. The report said that Crispell had run away from home and was living on the beach in Florida when he was attacked and raped by two men. Bell said he could not remember whether he saw the report but said he knew of the incident because Crispell had told him about it.

Abreu showed Bell a report from a psychologist in Arizona who examined Crispell following his arrest.

The psychologist concluded that Crispell was “very troubled” but was not insane and was competent to stand trial.

Abreu also showed Bell two letters Crispell had written from prison before his trial in which he wrote he was having difficulty sleeping and eating because he was having nightmares about “eyes” watching him and was thinking about suicide. Crispell also wrote in the letters that “Sharky” had been his lifelong protector and would protect him even after death.

Bell said he believes he did see the letters but could not say when he saw them because it occurred 24 years ago. Abreu again asked Bell if he had a psychological evaluation performed on Crispell and Bell again said he didn’t because it was inconsistent with their defense.

Abreu showed Bell a letter to Bell from Ammerman in April of 1990 where offered a plea agreement where if Crispell agreed to plead guilty to all charges he would receive life in prison on the murder charge plus 17 years in prison on the kidnapping charge and other charges, and in exchange the commonwealth would drop the death penalty.

He also showed Bell a letter that Bell wrote to Crispell urging him to accept the plea because if he were convicted at trial he likely would receive the death penalty.

Bell said it is his letter but had forgotten about the plea negotiations between him and Ammerman.

Abreu showed Bell a letter from Crispell to Bell stating that he wanted a psychological examination done and wanted to change his plea. Bell said he did receive the letter and spoke to Crispell about it.

He said Crispell wanted to change his plea to insanity but said the two of them decided against it because if they had a psychological evaluation and it concluded that Crispell was insane, the commonwealth could counter it with the evaluation by the Arizona doctor.

Bell said Crispell’s defense at trial and during sentencing was that he and Weatherhill had originally only intended to steal Brown’s car and leave her at the DuBois Mall.

However, because of actions by Weatherhill, they kidnapped Brown, and Weatherhill, not Crispell, had killed her, Bell said.

Bell agreed with Abreu’s statement that the only evidence the commonwealth produced at the trial that Crispell was the one who murdered Brown was the testimony from Donald Skinner, Crispell’s cellmate at Jefferson County Prison, where Crispell was being held as he awaited trial.

Skinner testified that Crispell had confessed to him that he had murdered Brown. Skinner also told investigators that he believed Crispell was “crazy” and he was afraid to sleep in the same room as him.

Bell said they attempted to counter Skinner’s testimony by pointing out that Crispell has consistently denied killing Brown, had denied killing her to other prisoners, and said Crispell had given information to the police on the crime that they did not know.

And as far as he knows, Bell said Crispell maintains to this day that he did not kill Brown.

Abreu also showed Bell the coroner’s report on Brown, which stated that Brown had defensive wounds on her hands from the attack and a report from the Arizona state police which stated that Weatherhill had scratches on his hands, arms and chest when they arrested him.

Bell said he did see the coroner’s report before the trial but said he does not believe he saw the Arizona state police report. Abreu asked Bell if he could have used that information at trial, and Bell said he could have, but said the commonwealth could have countered it saying Weatherhill had cut himself on a broken car window. One of the car’s windows was broken in an accident and there was blood on the broken window, Bell said

Bell also said he could not remember seeing a report from the Pennsylvania state police on interviews with two witnesses who said they saw Weatherhill with the murder weapon, a knife, prior to the crime.

The hearing is scheduled to last all week and for an additional week in June. Leete is presiding over the hearing.

Leete has also been in the news recently as being the presiding judge in the Paterno family lawsuit against the NCAA.

The commonwealth is being represented at the hearing by William R. Stoycos, senior deputy attorney general.