Convicted Punxsutawney Killer Becomes Governor Rendell's 79th Death Warrant

Rega Killed Night Watchman During Robbery at Jefferson County Hotel

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell
has signed his 79th death warrant; this one for Robert Gene Rega, a
Punxsutawney man who a jury found guilty of gunning down a hotel night
watchman during a botched 2000 robbery.

Rega is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Sept. 18.

After bemoaning the fact that they had no money to buy Christmas presents for
their children, court records indicate Rega conspired with Stanford Jones and
his wife, Susan, as well as Shawn Bair, to rob the Gateway Lodge in Cooksburg,
Jefferson County. Raymond Fishell later agreed to participate in the crime.
All of the conspirators are from Punxsutawney.

Rega and the others hatched their plan during the evening of Dec. 21, 2000,
and committed the crime about 5 hours later on Dec. 22. They targeted the
hotel because Rega and Bair had worked there.

On Dec. 22, Rega, Fishell, Bair and Stanford Jones drove to the Gateway Lodge
wearing stockings on their heads. They also wore gloves. Fishell carried a
butcher's knife with him while Rega carried a .9mm handgun. Bair served as the
look-out and getaway driver. Susan Jones watched the children at home as the
crime unfolded.

The quartet had planned to hold the night watchman, Christopher Lauth, hostage
and force him to obtain the code from the hotel owner's daughter to open the
ATM machine and take that money. However, when they arrived at the business,
the men spotted Lauth outside the building, panicked and decided to get out of
their car and jump the unsuspecting employee, who was approaching the vehicle.

While holding Lauth at gunpoint, the group tried but failed to get the ATM
code. Fishell and Jones, meanwhile, carried the hotel safe to the car while
Rega began shooting at the cash-dispensing machine, but failed to open it.

As the group moved toward making its getaway, Bair, Fishell and Jones waited
in the car as Rega continued to deal with Lauth. While waiting, the men said
they heard a gunshot, a scream, a gurgling sound, and a few more shots. Rega
then ran out of the building, got into the car, and ordered Bair to drive
away.

After returning to Rega's trailer, the men opened the safe with a grinder and
split the $20,000 it held, each receiving about $5,000. Rega then instructed
the men to put all of the credit cards and receipts back into the safe, along
with their clothing and shoes. Then they stuffed a kerosene-soaked blanket
into the safe, set fire to it, and dumped the safe over an embankment.

Gateway Lodge employees discovered Lauth's lifeless body when they reported to
work at 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 22.

After performing an autopsy on Lauth, Criminal Pathologist Dr. Eric Vey said
the victim had been shot once in the right hand, head, back, and right
shoulder. While the head wound was immediately fatal, the angle of the bullet
trajectories indicated that Lauth was on his knees with his arms raised when
he was shot.

Rega was arrested and charged with homicide and related offenses in connection
with the death of Lauth and the robbery on Jan. 9, 2001.

On June 20, 2002, eight days after his trial began, a jury convicted Rega of
first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy,
burglary, theft by unlawful taking, aggravated assault, criminal mischief,
unlawful restraint, and receiving stolen property. The jury sentenced Rega to
death on June 22.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed Rega's death sentence on Oct. 17,
2007, and denied his application for re-argument on Dec. 10. After his
petition for a writ of certiorari was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on
April 14, the Office of General Counsel received the record of his trial and
direct appeal from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Prothonotary on April 23.

The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public
education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing
economic investment to support our communities and businesses.To find out more
about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter,
visit www.governor.state.pa.us.

CONTACT:
Mark Shade
717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

Mark Shade of the Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, +1-717-783-1116