Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Matthew White walks into court on Thursday with photos of his children affixed to his shirt. After a little over one hour of jury deliberations, White was found guilty of first degree murder. He will be sentenced Friday morning.

Matthew Brian White will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

White, 35, of Chandlers Valley, was found guilty of first degree murder for the killing of his wife, Jessica L. White, after approximately one hour of jury deliberations on Thursday.

White took the stand in his own defense and presented an alternate story to explain the death of his wife.

The jury didn’t buy it.

Two defense witnesses testified prior to White taking the stand.

Kyle Hipley, a flight nurse who was involved in White’s transportation and treatment to UPMC Hamot in the wake of the incident. His report indicated that the wound White received was “not believed to be self-inflicted.”

White’s attorney, Robert Kinnear, asked Hipley if that would have been their determination and Hipley said it was “something EMS told us. We have no way to know that.”

He said he could not identify which of the local responders made that statement.

On cross-examination, District Attorney Rob Greene asked if that was something he should have put in his report.

“It was what we were told when we had limited information,” Hipley said. “”It does not directly (change) the care we provide.” He said they are in the habit and practice of documenting what they are told. “I have no idea how that was determined.”

Greene noted that the responder who initially treated Matthew White said nothing about the wound not being self-inflicted.

“If she’s saying that conversation never took place that is surprising to me,” Hipley said. “There is a lot going on in five minutes. It is possible that I misheard a comment. I believe it is unlikely. Sure, it is possible.”

William Loney, a neighbor of the Whites’ was next to testify.

He testified that her heard “five, six or seven rapid gunshots fired” while sitting on his front porch, which does not face the White residence.

He said the shots were fired in one volley.

Loney said he then went to the residence and the children were placed in his care. Both attorneys asked him if he had been interviewed by a trooper on the scene and he maintained that no one talked to him.

The question then became — was the defendant going to testify?

A recess was called for Kinnear to consult with White on the decision followed by a brief proceeding with the jury not present where President Judge Maureen Skerda advised him of his right to testify.

Kinnear said that White “has gone back and forth with me,” but he believed at that point that he was “not going to testify.”

White commented that “my truth won’t add up with the state’s evidence,” and said he just wanted to tell the truth.

“You have a right to testify,” Skerda advised. “Your attorney cannot make the decision. He’s explained to you what he believes is in your legal best interest.”

White then told Skerda he wished to testify.

“We have discussed (this) fully yesterday and today,” Kinnear said. “(My) legal advice was not to take the stand, obviously.”

After another short recess and a brief closed proceeding, White took the stand.

He testified that he had argued with his wife over his drug use Memorial Day weekend, admitting he was addicted to suboxone and had used methamphetamine and speed.

“After that, we were completely fine,” White said, indicating that he had been in rehab earlier this year.

He described himself as a “farmer. I work my ass off. I’m a stay-at-home dad, plus a farmer.”

White then addressed what happened on June 21.

He said he made coffee for his wife before work and undertook various tasks with his children around the house.

He called June 21 the “worst day of my life.”

White claimed that he was inside the house when he heard shots fired outside. He said he then went outside and “the guy caught up to me.”

He alleged there were two masked men in camo clothing at his house.

One, he said, “chased him around to the front of the car” where he “got into a struggle.”

White said he tried pull the gun from the man at which point he was shot. He said he then “fired off a shot or two” and laid there for five minutes because he “didn’t know what they were going to do.

He then started getting emotional telling his story and said he then got up, went into the house, called 911 and told his children to wait in the house after which he “went into the car” and “sat with her (Jessica) and held her hand until the cops got there.”

“I pulled the gun from him. As I pulled (it) from him, he shot.”

How did the alleged attacker get his gun?

White claimed that his house was broken into the previous weekend and said that he did not report it because he had a bunch of marijuana-growing equipment in the house.

White then claimed that police should have investigated the incident properly and checked the forensics.

“I wish they would have done a better examination,” White said.

On cross-examination, District Attorney Rob Greene asked if he knew his wife was home and questioned why he went back inside.

“I made sure the kids were cleaning and doing what they were supposed to,” White said. “Then (I) heard shots.”

Greene then alleged that there would have been blood on the steps and the phone where he called 911 after he had been shot — laying the phone down, not hanging it up.

White said he was pretty much “bled out.”

“We have pictures that show there is not blood on the porch,” Greene said.

Greene cited Lead Telecommunicator Ken McCorrison, who testified it was a hangup call.

“He not telling the truth either?” Greene asked, later showing a photo taken by police the night of the incident that shows the corded phone sitting on the base.

“I had blood all over me. I was covered in blood.”

Greene noted that, “fortunately, we took pictures of the house.”

“I’m just telling you the truth, what actually happened,” White claimed. “I didn’t see my wife until after the shots were fired.”

“You thought she was cheating on you,” Greene said.

“I suspected that,” White said.

Greene asked him if he was mad about it.

“Not at the time this happened,” White said. “I was over it. We were all better.”

He said he loved her, that they had three kids together and had been together for 15 years and married for 10.

White acknowledged that he may have gotten angry at Jessica White for not being home at the same time everyday.

During the cross, White referred to Greene as “your honor.”

“I’m not a ‘your honor,'” Greene said.

White then called him “Rob.”

“Mr. Greene is ok,” Greene said.

White acknowledged he went back into the house and told his kids he loved them.

Greene asked if he told them goodbye.

“Yes, I did,” White said. “I did not know if I was going to live.”

Greene pointed out that his son’s statement to police “didn’t say anything about you bleeding.”

“I tried to hide that from him,” White said, “tried to keep my hands clean.”

Greene asked if it was “fair to say the children didn’t see blood.”

White said it was possible. “I didn’t ask them. I tried not to get them bloody.

“I honestly don’t remember hugging them. If my son said I did, I probably did.”

Continuing his attack on law enforcement’s investigation, White suggested that there should have been blood on the children and asked if anyone checked. “I hug my kids all day, every day.”

He told the jury that Jessica White knew about the pistol being stolen.

“Why not tell anyone else?,” Greene asked again.

“The same reason I didn’t call the cops yet,” he said.

“Why didn’t you tell someone about the stolen firearm? Would you agree (that was the) firearm that killed your wife?” Greene said.

“Yes, I agree with that. (It was) actually her pistol. That’s the weapon that killed her. I purchased it for her. We each had one. We switched them because hers was broken at the time but it doesn’t matter.”

He said he also told his first attorney, former Assistant Public Defender Nicholis Milardo, that the gun had been stolen.

“Why not police?” Greene asked.

“I wish I would have now,” White responded.

“You never told anyone but your attorney that the firearm was stolen, and Jessica,” Greene said.

White said that was “to my knowledge” the only people he told.

He reiterated that one of two masked men shot him.

“I kept my mouth shut? so I could testify about it today. I told the EMTs we were shot. I was shocked that I was charged.”

“Don’t you think it’d be important to let someone know it was two masked men that killed your wife and the mother of your children?” Greene asked. “(Did you) want to keep it a secret to see how well we did our job?”

Again, attacking the investigation, White said: “If that’s what you want to call it.”

“Let’s go back to your story,” Greene said.

“Facts,” White interjected.

White’s testimony was all over the place.

Regarding his drug use, “I have no idea how benzos got into my system. I can’t answer that.”

Testimony from Wednesday indicated that he tested positive for benzos, opiates and marijuana.

He circled back to his story, indicating that the two masked men were indeed men because “they didn’t have breasts or anything,” though he testified that they were about his height and “skinnier than me” while cautioning that “I didn’t have a scale. I didn’t weigh them.”

He alleged that a surveillance system at his home was not procured by police until two days after the incident which meant that the “same people (masked men) had two days to erase” the footage.

“You have a security system” Greene asked.

“Yes, I do,” White responded.

After Greene asked who may have deleted something, White responded by saying “probably the same men that did this to us.”

He said he has “an idea” about the identity of the two men.

“I’d rather not state their names,” he continued.

“They killed your wife,” Greene said.

“Why didn’t you come and ask me this before?” White said.

Greene indicated that police interviewed White at UPMC Hamot two days after the incident and “asked you what happened. You responded, ‘I don’t know what the hell happened.'”

White asked if police recorded that interview and Greene said “actually, we did.”

“(I was) dumbfounded you were charging me. I couldn’t freaking believe it.”

“How did (police) treat you?” Greene asked.

“Like I was a friggin’ murderer,” White said. “Very rudely. I was two hours out of ICU when they came in and charged me.”

He claimed he was under anesthesia and “can’t remember anything they said. I know if (you’re) charged with a crime not to freaking say anything. I don’t remember everything I said to them (police) that day.”

Audio of that interview was played later in the morning, where White can be heard saying “I don’t even know what the hell happened.” He also asked to speak with an attorney before answering more questions from police.

“It didn’t sound like me,” White contended.

“You didn’t know what the hell happened?” Greene asked.

“I knew we got shot,” White said.

White then claimed that he told one of the surgeons “that two masked men were involved in this. There’s a report of that Mr. Kinnear should be able to find.”

As White became combative in his discussion with Greene, Judge Skerda cautioned that “you’re being asked questions. It’s not a conversation between you and the district attorney.”

Referring to what he told the doctor, “I don’t remember what I told them, no. You shouldn’t question someone right when they get out of ICU.”

Greene asked White if between then and today he told anyone about the masked men.

“I told my lawyer,” White said. “(He) said it was too close to trial. I figured I would give you a lead.”

“Did you love your wife?” Greene asked.

“I love my wife, yes I did,” White said, then telling the jury that he knew where fingerprints of the two masked men could be found in the house.

“Tell us about that,” Greene prodded.

“I’ll tell you after the trial,” White said.

“You said before you don’t even know if they were in the house,” Greene countered.

“They were in the house when stuff was stolen, yes,” White said, noting he couldn’t say if they were there the day of the incident.

He said the security footage would indicate that but was deleted. “Maybe if you would have gotten (the footage) the day of the incident they wouldn’t have had two days to delete it.”

“Now you know where the possible fingerprint is,” Greene said.

“If you would have asked me before trial I would have told you,” White responded.

Greene: “I’m asking you right now.”

“(I’d) rather not disclose that,” White said.

“You don’t think any of that was important to tell law enforcement?” Greene asked. “Why don’t you think it’s important?”

“Yes, I think it’s important,” White responded.

Greene: “Why not tell someone?”

White: “I just got out of ICU.”

Greene asked White to describe the struggle with the masked man.

White said it took place in front of the red Honda. “I would have rather it been a fist fight,” he said.

Greene asked if White was here for his attorney’s opening statement.

“I wanted to present the facts,” White said. “He wanted to present a story.”

Greene recounted facts from the opening statement and White reiterated that “I told (Kinnear) him that’s not what happened.”

“You didn’t shoot yourself in the chest?” Greene asked.

“Absolutely not,” White said. “I definitely bled a lot?. If you would have asked this 10 months or 11 months ago? I don’t know what to say.”

“Just the truth,” Greene said. “You shot your wife, didn’t you?”

White was adamant he did not.

“(I) went and sat in the car to hold her hand.”

Greene circled back to the phone being hung up when White said it wasn’t and White said that he believed “the phone was moved and hung up. My seven-year-old at the time could have hung it up. He’s very smart.”

When Greene finished his cross-examination, Kinnear rested the defense.

Closing statements were offered after lunch.

“I told you this was a case (where you are) going to have to focus on the forensics,” Kinnear said in his closing. “Forensics would get you to the truth. That is still the case.”

He called White a “grieving husband who has not had time to process the case.

“His theory is fanciful,” Kinnear said. “When you look at the evidence? there is evidence of another person being at the scene.”

He pointed out the location of the exit wound in White’s shirt as evidence of a struggle.

Kinnear then criticized Greene for not calling White’s oldest son.

He said the son’s statement “doesn’t say when the pops were heard. We don’t know. We don’t have the context. He’s the only one that (was) there as a witness that could give us more information and the DA chose not to call him. He has the burden of proof.

“Has the government attorney proved to you beyond a reasonable doubt? (That’s) the question you’re going to have to come down to.

And in an homage to the O.J. Simpson murder trial, Kinnear said “If the hole don’t fit, you must acquit.”

“Matthew White intentionally, deliberately with premeditation (laid) in wait and killed his wife by shooting her four times on June 21 of last year,” Greene said in his closing. “That’s the story. That’s what happened.”

He said that Kinnear’s shirt hole theory is “trying to throw anything against the wall” and hoping for something to stick.

“So when did Matthew White come up with this story? I would submit to you he came up with that story after the defendant’s opening and before he testified today. Defense counsel didn’t know what the story was going to be. The defendant waited to hear all the evidence that came in and then tried to fit a story into that scenario.”

Greene pointed out the inconsistency of White bleeding when shot, not bleeding when on the porch and in the house and then bleeding again when back in the car.

“How does that happen? It’s impossible,” he said. “It doesn’t follow the forensics. (There was) absolutely no blood in the house or on the porch or on the stairs. None. Nothing on the phone. Nothing on the kids. It defies physics. It defies logic. That’s Matthew White’s story.”

Greene continued by arguing that there is “no physical evidence that no one but the defendant pulled the trigger that killed Jessica White. Nobody saw anyone at that house at that time. It’s a fact that Jessica and the defendant were going to get a divorce (and she unfortunately) predicted correctly that it was going to get messy.

“He knew that he was going to kill his wife that day. He shot himself.”

Directly challenging White’s defense for not telling anyone about his version of what happened, Greene told the jury “I guess he’s going to tell us after the trial. Don’t you want everyone here to know, the press to know, it wasn’t me? Don’t you want your friends, your family, Jessica’s family to know? Don’t you want your kids to know you didn’t do this?”

Glaring at White, Greene said that the “facts are indisputable in this case. (This) is intentional, deliberate and premeditated. That is murder in the first degree. I ask you to hold Matthew White accountable for his action (and) bring justice for Jessica and a little peace to Jessica’s family.”

The jury was sent to deliberations at 2:14 p.m.

Shortly after 3:20 p.m., word came that the jury had made a decision.

When Skerda asked the jury foreperson for the verdict, the woman rose and said just four words: “Guilty, first degree murder.”

Greene said after the verdict was announced that the only sentence under the law — since the death penalty was not sought — is life in prison without parole.

The sentence will be handed down on Friday at 11 a.m.