Lawyer gets 10 to 25 years in fatal shooting of hunter

Montgomery County lawyer David Manilla was sent to state prison for 10 to 25 years this afternoon for fatally shooting a Quakertown man while hunting illegally last fall in upper Bucks County.

Bucks County Court Judge Albert J. Cepparulo, calling Manilla "lucky" he wasn't charged with murder, sentenced him to 2 ½ to 5 years for involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 29 slaying of deer hunter Barry Groh, 52, of Quakertown. It was the maximum sentence possible for the first-degree misdemeanor charges.

Cepparulo then gave Manilla, 49, an additional 7 ½ to 20 years for illegally possessing two firearms that day in Richland Township. Because of his prior record - Manilla had been convicted of aggravated assault in the 1980s - it was illegal for him to have any firearms. Despite that prohibition, Manilla continued to hunt in several states.

In 1993, he had been cited for careless hunting in Schuylkill County after an incident in which a pheasant hunter was shot in the neck with birdshot fired by Manilla or a hunting partner.

"When I am done sentencing you today, you will have touched your last firearm and you will have squeezed your last trigger,: Cepparulo told Manilla, "because you will never again possess a firearm for as long as you live."

Manilla, of Worcester Township, had pleaded no contest in May to involuntary manslaughter and guilty to the firearms offenses and some lesser hunting charges in the death of Groh, a married father of two. He changed the no-contest plea this morning to a guilty plea, explaining to Cepparulo that the no-contest plea had been designed to give the Groh family a better chance of collecting more money from one of his insurance policies.

Barry Groh's survivors are seeking damages against Manilla in a wrongful-death civil suit.

Theresa Groh, the slain hunter's widow, had urged Cepparulo to give Manilla the longest sentence possible, calling Manilla "a spoiled rich boy," and "a man who believes he can do whatever he pleases without ever truly paying for or accepting responsibility for any of his crimes."

The sentence Cepparulo gave Manilla was close to the 12 ½ to 25 year maximum allowed for his crimes.

Manilla did not react to the sentence, staying composed and jotting notes on a legal pad as his penalties were read. Earlier, he had apologized to Theresa Groh and her two adult sons.

"I know that you will never be able to forgive me," he told them, "but I am truly and heartfully sorry for my actions."

Manilla told Cepparulo that he "was clearly irresponsible" and "should not have been hunting at all."

Manilla accidentally shot Groh through the heart as Groh stood in a creek bed adjacent to property Manilla owned at the time in Richland Township. Groh died almost instantly, but Manilla and two fellow hunters waited more than 30 minutes before calling 911 and did not give full accounts of what had happened until more than a week had passed.

Among those fellow hunters was Manilla's uncle, former Montgomery County District Attorney Michael D. Marino. Marino, who was not charged with a crime, did not attend the sentencing.

Manilla told police he had mistaken Groh for a deer. Groh had just dragged a large buck he had killed to the stream, where he may have been preparing to gut it.

Attorneys and Manilla acknowledged in court today that Manilla could face additional federal firearms charges because of the dozens of weapons he had illegally stockpiled at the home he shared with his elderly mother. Manilla said he his family were the objects of a federal grand jury. Federal authorities have refused to confirm or deny the investigation.