Former neighbor accused of killing mail carrier on his route back in court Tuesday

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh man accused of killing a mail carrier on his route last week was back in court on Tuesday.

Eric Kortz, of Sheraden, is facing murder charges for the death of Louis Vignone in a South Hills neighborhood last week.

Investigators say Kortz confessed to shooting and killing Vignone, 58, while he was in his mail truck on Thursday morning in Collier Township.

The big piece of evidence in the testimony was body camera footage from Carnegie Police.  That footage showed officers rushing into the department to find Kortz sitting on a bench.  In the video Kortz told officers he was there to turn himself in for killing the mailman.

Later in that court appearance, county detectives said they found Vignone shot multiple times in his mail uniform on his mail route, then they said a gun was found tossed in the front yard. According to the detectives that gun was registered to Kortz.

According to court paperwork, Kortz told police he believed Vignone poisoned his family when they were neighbors in Sheraden.  Kortz defense attorney questioned the county detective on if he had any proof that Kortz wasn’t going after Vignone in self-defense to stop the poisoning.

Detectives said there is no indication Kortz was being poisoned.

Kortz waived his detention hearing on Tuesday, but it could happen later.

>> RELATED STORY: Defense attorney weighs-in on next steps for former neighbor charged in postal worker shooting case

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