District Attorney Weintraub to join prosecutors as Warminster double-murder retrial begins
A man whose guilty verdict in a Warminster double murder was reversed six years ago will face a second jury.
And Alfonso Sanchez, now 41, will have a familiar foe as District Attorney Matt Weintraub plans to join his deputies at the prosecution table.
Sanchez goes to trial April 24 on charges he fatally shot Lisa Diaz, 27, and Mendez Thomas, 22, in Warminster in 2007. He also faces newer charges that he tried to have a witness killed while awaiting retrial.
Sanchez, formerly of Philadelphia, was granted a retrial in 2017.
His co-defendant, Anthony Sparango, of Souderton, will also be tried next week. County detectives allege Sparango had helped Sanchez while he was in prison.
Weintraub and deputy district attorneys Edward Furman and Matthew Lannetti are seeking the death penalty.
Why is DA Matt Weintraub trying the Anthony Sanchez case?
Weintraub said he was the DA who sought a new trial. He wanted to be a part of the prosecution team this time to ensure some continuity for the survivors given turnover in his office over the years.
Sanchez is charged with two counts of homicide, burglary, aggravated assault and related offenses. In the second case, he is charged with four counts of solicitation to commit homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, witness intimidation, and solicitation and conspiracy of that offense
What was Sanchez originally convicted of?
Sanchez was among three people charged in the deaths of Diaz and Thomas.
Warminster police said Sanchez shot the victims at the Bucks Landing apartments on Street Road on Oct. 17, 2007. Sanchez allegedly shot them in the head at close range during a dispute over a crack cocaine debt.
Sanchez was found guilty in 2008 of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to death.
One of the three men charged testified against Sanchez, and was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary in the case. The other man was found guilty of second-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Why was Sanchez granted a retrial in the case?
In 2017, Sanchez was granted a new trial after it was discovered that DNA lab reports were not handed over to his attorneys during his initial trial, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said at the time.
Sanchez had been on death row since his conviction.
Prosecutors said at the time that the failure was "inadvertence and oversight," in which both sides went to trial under the belief that no DNA testing was done.
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What is Sanchez accused of doing while awaiting trial?
County detectives allege Sanchez ordered the killing of a witness while in prison. Detectives also alleged Sanchez's friend, Sparango, 38, had taken steps to get information on the witness and planned killing the witness in a way that eluded authorities.
Sparango is charged with solicitation to commit homicide and conspiracy to intimidate witness. He is currently in Bucks County Prison on $1 million bail.
Investigators were made aware of Sanchez's plan in 2020, when a confidential informant spoke to them about it, charging documents allege.
Detectives intercepted prison phone calls, as well as viewed text messages that showed Sanchez's plan, according to officials.
The witness and their family, who authorities did not identify, were placed in a protection program, court documents state.
Last year, Sanchez pleaded guilty to running a drug smuggling ring inside Bucks County Jail. He was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison.
Sanchez's trial is expected to last at least a week.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Philly man to get retrial in 2007 Warminster double murder. Here's why
