Pair Convicted of Stabbing Penn. Inmate

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By Pottstown Mercury

Published: 01/02/2003

Eric Thorton smiled and James Dale sat expressionless as eight male and four female Montgomery County jurors convicted them Thursday afternoon of attempting to murder another inmate at Graterford prison more than two years ago.
Thornton and Dale conspired and then slashed the throat of former Graterford inmate Jasen Selders using a razor blade they melted into a hot pink toothbrush.
The incident, in which Selders nearly died, occurred on Aug. 14, 2000, while the three were inmates at Graterford prison.
After the incident, Selders was paroled, Thornton was transferred to a state prison in Coal Township and Dale remained at Graterford.
After the verdict, Montgomery County Common Pleas Senior Judge Albert Subers remanded Dale and Thornton back to prison to await sentencing and to have a presentence investigation report prepared.
'They can go back to wherever they came from,' Subers said, directing the seven deputies in the courtroom to escort them out.
Just before they left, Thornton's lawyer Leigh Narducci said his client asked whether he could waive his presentence investigation report and be sentenced immediately.
Subers said no.
Outside the courtroom, Narducci said he plans to appeal the verdict due to multiple delays in getting the case to trial, and that prosecutors never called an expert to testify about the potential death risk for Selders.
'The only thing I want to say is I respect the decision of the jury,' said Dale's lawyer, John Gradel.
The jurors began deliberating early Thursday afternoon.
After deliberating for nearly five hours and asking seven questions, the jurors found Dale and Thornton each guilty of criminal attempt of first degree murder, assault by a prisoner, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
The jurors also convicted Thornton of possession of an instrument of crime and possessing a prohibitively offensive weapon.
Dale was found not guilty of these charges.
Heeding advance warnings by a county deputy sheriff, Selders did not react out loud to the verdict until after Thornton and Dale left the courtroom.
That's when he kissed his girlfriend, smiled through tears and shook hands with the various attorneys and jurors.
'In my eyes, these guys should be put to sleep like bad animals that bite someone,' Selders said outside the courtroom.
Jury foreman Tim Quintrell said the panel of jurors found Selders credible and 'compelling' when he testified earlier this week.
The foreman, who admitted he had sweaty palms when he had to read the verdict, said it was easier to convict Thornton than Dale because the evidence against Dale was not as clear-cut.
Of Dale and Thornton, Montgomery County prosecutor Christopher Mullaney said, 'They should be put on the first bus to New Hampshire never to step foot again in Pennsylvania.'
Dale and Thornton, who were convicted of violent crimes in New Hampshire, are serving their time in Pennsylvania as part of an interstate compact with New Hampshire.

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