Jury begins deliberations on shooting death of off-duty Oakdale police officer trial

BLAWNOX, Pa. — Late Thursday afternoon, a jury began deliberating in the murder trial against Kevin McSwiggen.

>> Man charged with homicide for shooting death of off-duty Oakdale police officer

The family of Oakdale police officer Chuck Stipetich was in tears Thursday, as the assistant district attorney made her closing arguments. The ADA told the jury, they shouldn’t believe the testimony that came from Kevin McSwiggen, as he took the stand in his own murder trial.

He’s charged with killing Stipetich, who was off-duty at the time.

>> ‘I couldn’t even save him’: Heartbroken family remembers off-duty officer shot, killed in Blawnox

Dashcam video from McSwiggen’s car shows that he was following Stipetich to his home in Blawnox, and that McSwiggen was angry with the way Stipetich was driving.

McSwiggen testified that he was a concerned citizen, and wanted to stop the off-duty officer from driving aggressively.

McSwiggen’s defense attorney argued that his client was acting in self defense against the officer and his father, who came out of the house to help. However, prosecutors implied that McSwiggen was impersonating a police officer, and thought he was above the law.

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