Guilty Verdict Brings 'Relief' For Families Of Murdered Franciscan Students

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- After a day of deliberations, a Washington County jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of a Pittsburgh man accused of killing two Franciscan University students.

In his second murder trial, Terrell Yarbrough was again found guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Aaron Land and Brian Muha.

“As soon as they read it, it was just relief,” said Land’s mother, Kathleen O’Hara.

Yarbrough, 29, of the East Liberty neighborhood, was convicted of aggravated murder in 2001 and sentenced to die, but he was retried because the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that his trial should have taken place in Pennsylvania.

The jury announced it had reached a verdict shortly before noon on Tuesday.

“We don’t have hatred toward him or anger toward him, but the deep sadness at the thought that somebody could do that to somebody else is what we live with,” said mother Rachel Muha.

The death penalty phase will continue inside a Washington County courtroom on Wednesday.

“We don’t want him to be executed for Brian’s sake – for our sake – but we’re trying to figure out what we think is best for him and it means praying for him, it means hoping he changes and it’s a continual act. The anger can be strong when we have to dwell on what he did to Brian and to Aaron,” said brother Chris Muha.

Police said the victims -- Land, 20, and Muha, 18 -- were robbed and kidnapped from their apartment near the Franciscan University campus in Steubenville, Ohio, in May 1999, and driven just across the state line to Robinson Township, Washington County, where they were shot to death.

"What really horrifies me is that that's the last thing my son saw. That's the face of evil he looked into," said O'Hara. "That's really a hard thing to live with."

Muha's mother, Rachel, sent Channel 4 Action News an e-mail, which describes the torment the family has lived with since Brian's murder 10 years ago.

"Today my nephew is running for his first elected office -- city councilman. And we are waiting for a murder verdict. My nephew is serving in Afghanastan (sic) and we are worried about him -- and waiting for a murder verdict," Rachel Muha writes in the e-mail. "The suffering does go on. It's twofold: knowing how many terrible injuries Brian suffered and that it went on and on; knowing that the last face he saw on earth was the face of his killer -- and his killer didn't care what he was doing to Brian."

"His killer didn't care what he was doing to Brian." - Rachel Muha, Victim's Mother

The defense argued that while Yarbrough was involved in the college students' kidnapping, he did not shoot Land and Muha.

Prosecutors have said they are considering seeking the death penalty against Yarbrough.

Nathan Herring, the other man involved in the students' kidnapping and deaths, will be retried in Washington County at a later date. He too was convicted in Ohio of the killings, but had that decision overturned for the same reasons as the Yarbrough case.

Rachel Muha's E-Mail: What follows is part of an e-mail Rachel Muha, Brian Muha's mother, sent to Channel 4 Action News.

Living With Murder

Today my nephew is running for his first elected office - city councilman. And we are waiting for a murder verdict.

My nephew is serving in Afghanastan and we are worried about him - and waiting for a murder verdict.

My niece is ready to deliver her first baby and we are excited for her and her husband - and waiting for a murder verdict.

My sister is going to therapy, follow up from knee surgery. And we are waiting for a murder verdict.

My 81 year old mother is recuperating from a broken wrist she received while attending the murder trial - and we are still waiting.

Brian's girlfriend of 10 years ago is trying to finish her master's degree, after suffering through the murder of her boyfriend - and she is waiting for a murder verdict.

Chris' girlfriend, new to the family after Brian's death, is thrown into this and suffering it for the first time, never imagining when she met Chris that there would be such heartache in his life. And we are still waiting...

The list goes on and on. The suffering does go on. It's twofold: knowing how many terrible injuries Brian suffered and that it went on and on; knowing that the last face he saw on earth was the face of his killer - and his killer didn't care what he was doing to Brian. That's the shocking, stunning, traumatic truth of some people in our society. That's enough to make a person despair.

I thank God there is God, who takes away all despair and replaces it with hope and promise, the promise of eternal life and reunion with those we love.

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