Re-sentencing hearing for 1992 murder changed to status conference

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·3 min read

Apr. 19—WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County prosecutors are seeking a life sentence with parole or at minimum 35 years in prison for Todd Tarselli who admitted to the execution style murder of a 17-year-old boy inside a Hazleton restaurant in 1992.

Tarselli, 49, won a reprieve from the Pennsylvania Superior Court in July 2021, that ordered a new sentencing hearing citing questions about his birth date.

Tarselli was originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the deadly shooting of Mark Bunchalk during a robbery of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Jan. 23, 1992. He was also sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for the robbery and five years for illegally possessing a weapon, a .22-caliber rifle.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Tarselli who alleged he was 17-years-old when he committed the deadly crime, which he believed would make him eligible for parole citing the United States Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama (2012), which declared mandatory sentences of life without parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.

Tarselli's birthday came into question in his appeal with the Pennsylvania Superior Court citing cultural differences between the United States and his native country, Korea. In the 10-page ruling by the Superior Court that ordered a new sentencing hearing, the appellate court noted Koreans considered a newborn's age at 1 year, as in the United States a newborn turn 1-year-old after the first year of life.

Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough initially scheduled Thursday for Tarselli to be re-sentenced but changed it to a status conference upon the request by Tarselli's attorney, William J. Watt II.

Watt requested the status conference due to the age of the case and the difficulty of accessing documents from the early 1990s, and to "define the procedure that will be followed and to discuss questions raised by counsel pertaining to the Superior Court's determination to vacate (Tarselli's) sentence."

District Attorney Samuel M. Sanguedolce and Assistant District Attorney James L. McMonagle recently filed a 13-page sentencing memorandum seeking a life sentence with parole for Tarselli or a minimum sentence of 35 years in prison for first-degree murder. The sentence imposed for robbery and firearm offense were not impacted by the appellate rulings.

The sentencing memorandum by prosecutors includes a brief outline of their case if a trial was held, including witnesses and Tarselli's intent to purchase a rifle, sawed off its barrel and shot Bunchalk nine times in the back of the head "execution style" until the gun clicked and wrapped a phone cord around Bunchalk's neck.

Tarselli stole a bag of money from the restaurant, reloaded the rifle and shot Bunchalk several more times before picking up shell casings, the sentencing memorandum says.

Sanguedolce and McMonagle believe Tarselli's re-sentencing hearing should follow today's practice of sentencing hearings, including a pre-sentencing investigation report, mitigation by Tarselli's attorney and Tarselli himself, Bunchalk's family and prosecutors argument for a specific sentence.

Tarselli is housed at the State Correctional Institution at Forest in Forest County.