A federal appellate court said Tuesday that prosecutors can retry a man whose conviction in the 1995 deaths of three firefighters in the East Hills was overturned.
In a 19-page opinion, the three judge-panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the federal retrial of Gregory Brown Jr., on a single charge of malicious destruction of property by fire resulting in death, does not violate his double jeopardy rights.
Just after midnight on Feb. 14, 1995, Pittsburgh firefighters responded to a home on Bricelyn Street. Several entered the basement. Marc Kolenda, 27, Patricia Conroy, 43, and Capt. Thomas Brooks, 42, were killed when a stairwell collapsed.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated and said gasoline was found in the basement. They ruled the fire arson and offered a $15,000 reward for information on the case.