Curious developments in the Regola case
You may recall that back on July 28 I wrote about the death of Louis A.J. Farrell, 14, who was found dead in the woods behind his house of a single gunshot to the head. At his side was a pistol registered to State Sen. Bob Regola, R-Westmoreland, a gun rights advocate who lived next door to Farrell's family. Regola and his wife were in the Harrisburg area the night of the shooting, July 21, to receive an award from the Pennsylvania Sheriff's Association. Louis had access to the Regola house to take care of the pets. The senator's son, Robert Regola IV, 16, didn't accompany his parents to Harrisburg, spending the day at an amusement park. One would have to suspect young Robert couldn't be trusted to take care of the family pets.
Now comes a strong suggestion that the Westmoreland County district attorney doesn't believe Louis' death was a suicide or accident--meaning it was a crime. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which despite its name is a Westmoreland County newspaper, have been fighting in court to unseal the search warrant affadavit--what the police told the court to justify the warrant to search the Regola home--in the case. The press has argued that extra special scrutiny is necessary because of Sen. Regola's position as a public official. So far, the affadavit remains sealed. The new information comes from the D.A.'s response to the court proceeding.
If a state Senator wasn't part of the investigation (no one has implicated the senator himself) you can bet the information would have been released long ago.