Published: June 17, 2008 08:39 pm      

Court will not review conviction of Nanty Glo man in death of Tyrone fire chief

EBENSBURG — The state Supreme Court has refused to review the involuntary manslaughter conviction of a Nanty Glo man in the death of a Tyrone fire chief in a barroom confrontation.

George T. Lightcap IV, 32, is serving 5 1/2 to 20 years at SCO-Albion, near Erie, in the Aug. 19, 2005, death of Ray Stringer.

Stringer, 43, then chief of the Neptune Volunteer Fire Company, died of a brain injury caused by at least two blows to the had. He was in Nanty Glo for a district firemen’s conviction although the bar incident did not occur during any convention activity.

The confrontation took place Aug. 19, 2005, in the VFW Post in Nanty Glo.

The state’s highest court did not list in its one-paragraph order any reasons for deciding not to accept Lightcap’s case for review.

Lightcap’s conviction was upheld by the state Superior Court last August. Lightcap maintained at his trial that he was acting in self-defense, but the jury rejected his claims.