Suspect In Sisters' Deaths Has Extensive Criminal Record
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As Allen Wade was led away to jail, charged in the deaths of sisters - Sarah and Susan Wolfe - in their East Liberty home, Westmoreland County prosecutors had to wonder how those developments will affect their case against Lee Atwood.
He is accused of trying to hire a fellow inmate to kill a key witness in his own murder trial.
The inmate he approached, allegedly Allen Wade. He was allegedly offered $1,500 by Atwood to do the deed, according to investigators, with specific instructions on just how to do it.
Wade didn't comply.
He alerted the authorities there, and up until now, was expected to be a key witness against Atwood.
But as much as Wade decries violence in this case, he has had encounters with the criminal justice system.
In 1997 two women, an ex-girlfriend and an ex-wife each filed protection from abuse papers against him.
Police say in 2002 he was part of a bank robbery scheme that involved him putting a gun to a female bank employee and getting away with $81,000.
He pleaded guilty to assaulting a girlfriend in 2003, and in 2010 was back in jail on a parole violation.
By last fall, he was charged in Westmoreland County for stealing a wedding ring.
Eventually, he would have an encounter in Westmoreland County lockup that would make him a key prosecution witness in the murder for hire case.
RELATED LINKS:
East Liberty Double Murder Suspect Declares Innocence (3/6/14)
Irwin Man Accused In Murder For Hire Case (10/3/13)
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