The man that failed West Easton Council and Northampton County Council candidate, Tricia Mezzacappa, supported in a letter to The Express Times is sitting in prison awaiting trial for the murder of three innocent people. Rockne Newell shot them in the cowardly fashion of an ambush, while they attended a township meeting, according to authorities and multiple witnesses.
The property he owned is finally going to be cleared of the debris and garbage that is a constant reminder of atrocity that occurred. The township had acted on complaints that he lived in a storage shed, built an illegal culvert and used a bucket outside as a toilet on his garbage and junk strewn property. After years of legal fights Ross Township gained control of the property.
It was this reason, authorities say, that Newell went on a killing spree and if not for the bravery of a couple of citizens attending the township meeting that night, who struggled with and disarmed Newell, the death toll would have been higher.
WFMZ.com reports that Ross Township says a contractor has been hired to clean up Rockne Newell’s former property on Flyte Road.
Newell opened fire on the Ross Township meeting last August, police say, because of a long-running dispute over the condition of his property. It’s not yet known when clean-up will begin but the township will pay for it, according to WFMZ and Ross Township officials.
59 year-old Newell has pleaded “Not Guilty.”
Monroe County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mezzacappa called for the resignation of the surviving township officials in her letter to the editor of The Express Times, in which she called Rockne Newell a “victim.”
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
