CLEARFIELD – District Attorney Ryan Sayers announced today that following extensive discussions, review of the case with, and agreement of the victim’s family and Pennsylvania State Police, he will seek life in prison for Denny Bailey and forego the death penalty.
The first degree murder charges against Bailey stem from the brutal 2017 homicide of Chase Anderson in the Curwensville area of Clearfield County.
“It has been over three years since this crime was committed and, with the death penalty on the table, we are at least another year and a half from having a trial,” Sayers said.
“This decision will finally move the case forward and hopefully bring the family closer to getting some closure. Additionally, it is my duty and obligation to seek justice while being a steward of the resources that are entrusted to me by the people of Clearfield County. The potential multimillion-dollar price tag on these types of cases, due to experts and appeals, makes it hard to justify, especially when Pennsylvania governors have only executed three people since 1976, and all three of those individuals ‘volunteered’ by agreeing to discontinue their appeal processes. Another factor is that death-row inmates are no longer in solitary confinement in state prison due to a settlement from an ACLU lawsuit in 2019.”
The District Attorney continued, “between governors staying executions and lawsuits granting more rights to death row inmates, the death penalty in Pennsylvania has lost its teeth, and the only people that are truly affected by a capital case are the families that do not get closure because of appeals, and the taxpayers paying for constant appeals, attorneys, and expert witnesses.”
Following a status conference held on Tuesday, a tentative date for the trial has been set for October 26 – November 5, 2021.