Prosecutors said the Wilkinses killed three people in retaliation for a $700 drug deal that left them with fake cocaine.
View full sizeMichael, left, and Maurice Wilkins face three counts of murder in the killings of a Palmer Township man and another man in Reading and then the burning alive of a Reading woman in Salisbury Township. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a pair of brothers accused of killing a Palmer Township man and kidnapping, torturing and strangling a woman and dumping her body in Lehigh County.
Berks County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Skayhan said he would seek the death penalty if Michael Wilkins, 39, and Maurice Wilkins, 32, are convicted of first-degree murder.
Among the reasons are allegations the brothers committed multiple murders and tortured one of the victims, Skayhan said.
"I don't think the death penalty is warranted, based on the weakness of the prosecution's case," said attorney Robert Kirwin, who represents Michael Wilkins. Kirwin lambasted requesting the death penalty as a waste of money and a "misuse of government resources."
Attorney Jay Nigrini, who represents Maurice Wilkins, said the request for the death penalty was expected after prosecutors indicated early in the case they would seek it.
"We're not surprised the district attorney is seeking it," Nigrini said. "We intend on defending this case vigorously."
That includes Nigrini and Kirwin requesting the brothers be tried separately and Nigrini requesting an out-of-area jury due to media coverage of the case. Kirwin said he's never requested an out-of-area jury or to move a trial in a murder case, because it usually doesn't bode well for defendants.
The Wilkins brothers were formally arraigned Tuesday in Berks County Court on charges including three counts each of first-degree murder.
Their next court date is Nov. 15. The brothers are being held in the Berks County jail without bail.
Prosecutors said the Wilkinses killed three people in retaliation for a $700 drug deal that left them with fake cocaine.
The brothers, both of Ruscombmanor Township, Pa., outside Fleetwood, drove around Reading to find the dealers and shot to death Palmer Township resident Dario McLemore and Rafael N. Alequin, witnesses testified at the brothers’ preliminary hearing last month.
But Jennifer Velez-Negron, 26, arranged the drug deal and afterward the brothers said they believed she was part of the plan to rip them off, according to testimony.
Authorities say the Wilkins brothers doused Velez-Negron's body with gasoline and set it ablaze in Salisbury Township; she died from asphyxiation and thermal injuries. Salisbury Township police Sgt. Donald Sabo was present during her autopsy and he testified Velez-Negron had balled cloth in her mouth, legs bound with wire at the ankles and what appeared to the remnants of plastic bag around her head and neck.