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A purported member of a violent robbery crew is now also a convicted murderer.
It took jurors about three hours to find Anthony Paul White Jr. guilty of second-degree murder and burglary. They announced their verdict late Thursday afternoon.
Jurors acquitted White, 22, of 253 S. Penn St., of first-degree murder.
In Pennsylvania, second-degree murder -- or murder committed during the course of another felony -- carries an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.
White fatally shot Christopher Armagost, 30, at the victim's 315 S. Penn St. home on Dec. 10.
Trial testimony revealed he followed one of Armagost's female roommates home, then kicked down the door. Armagost ran downstairs, got White out of the home,
White shot through the door, hitting Armagost in the spine and neck.
That roommate, Julie Wolpert, identified White as the killer to police and at trial, as did her boyfriend, Roy Swaney.
Father speaks: Michael Armagost of Hanover, the victim's father, expressed gratitude to police, prosecutors and support staff of the district attorney's office.
"They got an animal off the street that will never hurt anyone again," he said. "Today was the best part of our justice system, (which) worked. Prior to this the justice system failed us.
"Three days prior to killing my son, this beast was convicted by a jury of ... strong-arm robbery," Michael Armagost said. "(White) should have been in a jail cell. And that's flat-out wrong."
Robbery cases: In that case, White was found guilty of robbing American Mart, 451 E. Philadelphia St., of cash and cartons of cigarettes in November 2010.
White still has pending criminal cases for allegedly committing multiple armed robberies, according to chief deputy prosecutor David Sunday, who also prosecuted the murder case.
Sunday said he was thrilled with Thursday's verdict.
"I feel sad for the family, because no verdict will bring back their loved one," he said. "But the community will no doubt be a safer place with that killer off the street."
Defense attorney Joshua Neiderhiser could not be reached for comment.
-- Staff writer Liz Evans Scolforo can also be reached at levans@yorkdispatch.com.
