Man serving life in prison for firefighters' 1995 deaths to have new trial in January

PITTSBURGH — The man serving life in prison for the deaths of three firefighters in 1995 is set to have a new state trial in January after a judge threw out his 2014 conviction.

Gregory Brown Jr. is accused of setting his mother’s house on fire in 1995 in East Hills. That fire killed three Pittsburgh firefighters: Thomas Brooks, Patricia Conroy and Marc Kolenda. Investigators believe Brown set the house on fire for insurance money.

A new state trial is set to begin in January, but according to the U.S. attorney, prosecutors said they feel the judge set to hear the case could not be impartial since it was the same judge that threw out the first conviction. Brown's case was then moved to Federal Court leading up to Friday's indictment.

Channel 11 spoke with Brown’s attorneys in February when they were angry is was taking more than two years to get a new trial scheduled.

Since Brown was indicted by a federal grand jury, the Allegheny County District Attorney announced that it filed a Nolle Prosse petition, meaning that they are choosing not to prosecute. This is said to avoid any accusations of double jeopardy.

Cox Media Group