Life Term In Murder Contested; Culture Cited On Age
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A man convicted of a Pennsylvania murder is challenging his life sentence on the grounds that he believes he was a minor at the time of the crime because the age of children is calculated differently in his birth country.
Forty-five-year-old Todd Hyung-Rae Tarselli has been serving life in the killing of 17-year-old Mark Bunchalk during a 1992 robbery at a Hazleton fast-food restaurant.
The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens' Voice reports that Tarselli said in Luzerne County Court on Wednesday that he believed he was 17 rather than 18 because he was adopted at a young age from South Korea and age is calculated differently there.
He acknowledged under cross-examination that he has known about the difference since at least 1998 but took no legal action. The judge didn't rule immediately.
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