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 * Pennsylvania Teen Stabs Cheerleader Girlfriend to Death**

18 year old John Mullarkey killed his girlfriend Demi Cuccia on Wednesday August 16, 2007. He originally showed up at her house to try to reconcile their relationship. Mullarkey ended up stabbing Cuccia with a knife 16 times, killing her. After he killed her, he attempted to kill himself as well by slitting his throat with the same knife he killed Cuccia with. He ended up surviving his suicide attempt.  Mullarkey’s attorney Robert Stewart presented to the court that Mullarkey was taking Accutane, a type of acne medicine. His attorney says that he was not in the right state of mind when he stabbed his girlfriend to death. Robert Stewart pleaded the medication played a factor of the attack Mullarkey had on his girlfriend because Mullarkey said the medication made him depressed. Mullarkey claimed he was not himself the day of the attack and doesn’t really remember what happened except the fighting with Cuccia. He remembered her running from her house screaming and bloody, and he wasn’t sure what he had done. Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Mark Tranquilli rejected the claims that the acne medication had anything to do with the case. Tranquilli was interviewing Mullarkey while he was in the hospital recovering from his suicide attempt. Mullarkey basically said that day that he was going to use the fact that he was on medication during the time of this crime as his defense, so Tranquilli had reason to believe it wasn’t the fault of the medication.

Mullarkey ended up being charged with criminal homicide. He is guilty of first degree murder, and will serve life in prison with no parole.

I agree with the decision the jury made. Mullarkey obviously was not as affected by the medication as he claimed to be, because he asked if he could use the fact that he was on medication as a defense! I think that if Mullarkey was not an adolescent, his punishment would have been the same. The severity of this case was so serious that he was at the age where he could be treated as an adult, considering he was 18 years old when he committed the crime and 20 when he was tried. Murder is a very serious and sad thing for one person to do to another person, and I think Mullarkey got what he deserved.

Resources: Siefert, K. (n.d.). John Mullarkey Guilty: Demi Cuccia Killer Guilty. //Rightjuris.com//. Retrieved (2009, November 12) from [] Siefert, K. (n.d.). Demi Cuccia Trial: John Mullarkey Trial Begins. //Rightjuris.com//. Retrieved (2009, November 12) from [] (2007). Pennsylvania Teen Stabs Cheerleader Girlfriend to Death. //Foxnews.com//. Retrieved (2009, November 12) from [] John Mullarkey. Retrieved (2009, November 12) from [] Demi Cuccia. Retrieved (2009, November 12) from []