WILKES-BARRE -- The death sentence of a man serving time for the murder of his 3-year-old niece was officially overturned Tuesday in Luzerne County.
Michael Bardo was convicted in 1993 of raping and killing Joelle Donovan the year before.
Bardo was sentenced to death but was granted a hearing on the sentence in 2012. A judge said Bardo's attorneys failed to present evidence about abuse he suffered as a child and his mental state. The judge said a jury should be made aware of those facts before ruling in any capital trial.
A Luzerne County judge re-sentenced Bardo to life in prison without the possibility of parole Tuesday.
Bardo was the last person given the death penalty in Luzerne County, back in 1993.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys say this closes a very dark chapter in the county's history.
It's a case that investigators say still haunts them: a 3-year-old girl, Joelle Donovan, molested and strangled, her little body found in a garbage bag, dumped in a creek in Wilkes-Barre.
"I remember it. It is certainly a dark chapter in this community's history. This one really hits home. I have a 3-year-old little girl,” said Assistant Luzerne County District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino.
Joelle's uncle, her mother's brother, Michael Bardo, was found guilty of the crime. In 1993, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
Bill Ruzzo was in court that day, helping advise Bardo's defense team. He remembers making a promise to Michael Bardo's hysterical mother.
“I promised his mother that I would do anything in my power to see that her son does not get executed. I told her, 'I'm not going to let it happen,' actually is what I told her,” said Ruzzo.
Ruzzo is an outspoken critic of the death penalty and one of Bardo's defense attorneys now.
Bardo was just given a new sentence, life in prison without parole, because a judge decided his previous attorneys failed to present certain evidence at his trial.
Prosecutors and Bardo's attorneys agreed on the life sentence.
In return, Bardo gave up his right to appeals.
"What we have achieved here in closing this chapter is Michael Bardo has admitted that he's done, he waived any appeal right whatsoever. Basically Michael Bardo will die in the hands of the state, but not at the hands of the state,” said Ferentino.
Ferentino says Joelle's mother agreed to the new sentence. She's moved far away and wants to stop re-living the nightmare of losing her child.
"She felt like this was reopening a wound that will never heal. We don't have to see his face and the family doesn't have to relive and listen to the brutal testimony about the death of this little girl."
And so, attorneys on both sides agree after nearly a quarter of a century in appeals, this case is finally closed.
"This is the end for Mike. I've told juries that when they sentence someone to life, they're giving them a death sentence because he dies in prison. We don't know where we're going to die. He does,” said Ruzzo.
There is currently a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
But prosecutors say that moratorium won't stop them from pursuing death in cases where it's warranted.
