Governor Corbett Signs Execution Warrant for Bucks County Man Who Killed Roulette Couple's Son
Harrisburg – Governor Tom Corbett today signed an execution warrant for Robert Anthony Flor, who was sentenced to death for killing a Bucks County policeman.
Flor, formerly of Bedminster, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October 2006 for the shooting death of Officer Brian Gregg, 46, of the Newtown Borough Police Department. A jury sentenced Flor to death the following month.
On the night of Sept. 29, 2005, police took Flor into custody for suspected drunken driving and beating his girlfriend. The officers took Flor to the St. Marys Hospital for testing. When an officer took off Flor's handcuffs to get a urine sample, Flor grabbed another policeman’s weapon and started shooting, wounding two others and killing Officer Gregg. Flor attempted to execute the other officer but the weapon was out of bullets when he pulled the trigger.
Brian Gregg was the son of John & Nancy Greg who live in Roulette.
Flor, now 44, is a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. His execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Sept. 29.
The warrant signed today is Corbett’s fifth execution warrant.
See today's Philly Burbs for more.
The articles below are some of the stories we've posted on Solomon's words previously:
9 Year Old With Lukemia Has Potter County Ties
Children seek to help
cancer-stricken classmate
A benefit will help send Kyle Gregg to Disney World.
Kellann Gregg didn't want to talk about how her family has been struck twice with tragedy.
She didn't want to talk about her late husband, Brian Gregg, a Newtown police officer killed while on duty almost four years ago. And she didn't want to talk about a recent diagnosis of leukemia for her only child.
Kellann Gregg of Middletown isn't using her time to talk. All her energy is focused on her 9-year-old son, Kyle, and his battle against the cancerous disease of the bone marrow and blood.
She and Kyle spend a lot of their time traveling back and forth to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
But plenty of people are talking for her and Kyle, especially the Class of 2009 at Discovery Day Care of Morrisville. More...
Editor's note: Kyle is the grandson of John and Nancy Gregg of Roulette and Rev. Jack Gregg of Shinglehouse is Kyle's uncle. John and Nancy's Burleson Avenue, Roulette home was destroyed by fire just before Christmas last year.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Slain Officer Honored By Class of 77
Park bench dedication@Brian Gregg Memorial Park
Group shot of Brian's parents, John and Nancy Gregg, of Roulette, Potter County, PA, along with their son's classmates from Woodrow Wilson Class of '77, with the bench placed at theCongress Street park in Newtown Borough. The popular Newtown police officer was murdered by a drunk driver who grabbed another officer's weapon and shot Gregg in the emergency room of St. Mary's hospital in Bucks County. To read more or see more pictures, click on the title of this article to go to the Class of 77 Blog.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Police Remember Officers Killed On Duty In Bucks
The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drum led a procession into the church that included 10 officers carrying 10 caps representing the officers killed on duty in Bucks County
— Sheriff Abraham L. Kulp, 1927; Dublin police Chief Eli M. Myers, 1965; Stuckey; Armstrong; Yezzi; deputy sheriffs George M. Warta Jr. and Thomas A. Bateman, 1986; Ranger Stanley E. Flynn, 1993; Plumstead Officer Joseph E. Hanusey III, 2002, and Newtown Officer Brian S. Gregg, 2005.
Brian was the son of John and Nancy Gregg, of Roulette. He was murdered by a drunk driver who grabbed another officers weapon and shot Gregg at a Bucks County hospital emergency room.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Family Of Slain Officer With Roulette Ties To Benefit From Class Reunion
PhillyBurbs.com
7/12/2007 8:03:11 AM
Class reunion organizers were missing a key ingredient this year in preparing their 30th reunion — slain Newtown police officer and Woodrow Wilson Class of 1977 historian Brian S. Gregg.
"Brian and I have worked together on all of our previous reunions," said organizer Jaki Angelo Mason, "so it was a bit hard [emotionally] for me to get this off the ground. I had so many ideas but didn't know where to start."
Eventually, though, the committee decided to hold a reunion and benefit for their fallen classmate, who was shot and killed in the line of duty almost two years ago.
Gregg’s parents, John and Nancy Gregg, who live nearly 300 miles west of Bucks in Potter County, said they might attend the reunion.
"So much has happened," Nancy Gregg said. "We think things like this are incredible — and it’s an honor."
The committee is hosting several events on the same day as the reunion, Aug. 10, to raise money to benefit Gregg’s widow and son, as well as establish three one-time scholarships for a graduating senior from Neshaminy, Harry S Truman and Council Rock North high schools. The scholarships will recognize students from the Class of 2008 for school involvement and commitment, similar to the Wilson Award that Gregg received in 1977, Mason said.
The Brian Gregg Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at 8 a.m. at the Middletown Country Club at 420 N. Bellevue Ave. The tournament is open to anyone interested in participating. The price is $125 per person. To register, e-mail Jim Ferland at jmthockey@qwest.net.
The 30th reunion committee will also hold a Chinese auction during the reunion, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Brookside Manor in Lower Southampton.
"We had a tough time rallying without Brian, but once we decided to make this a combo fundraiser/reunion and settled on raising money for educational scholarships that would benefit three graduates from three schools, that really helped us focus our energy on making the event worthwhile," said reunion committee member Carol Robidoux, a former Courier Times staff writer.
The committee is also hoping to raise money for a new bench in Brian S. Gregg Memorial Park on Congress Street in Newtown, organizers said.
Gregg, who put together photo slides for previous reunions, was killed Sept. 29, 2005, in the emergency room of St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown.
He and another officer brought Robert Flor to the hospital after he was arrested for driving drunk and beating his girlfriend. When Flor's handcuffs were removed so he could use the bathroom, he grabbed an officer's gun and shot Gregg.
For more information visit www.wilsonclassof77.blogspot.com.
Danny Adler can be reached at 215-949-4205 or dadler@phillyBurbs.com.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Killer Of Roulette Couple's Son Appeals Death Sentence
Brian Gregg, a Newtown police officer, was the son of Roulette residents John and Nancy Gregg.
Judge defends speech on Flor
By LAURIE MASON
Bucks County Courier Times
Before sending convicted cop killer Robert Flor to prison to await death by lethal injection, Bucks County Judge Alan Rubenstein made a memorable courtroom speech, telling the defendant that people will look back on his case and say, “The punk got what he deserved.”
In his bid to get off death row, Flor has complained to the state Supreme Court, saying Rubenstein violated his rights when he called him a punk and should have recused himself from the appeals process.
Rubenstein has responded to that accusation, reminding Flor that the words he used came out of the killer's own mouth.
Flor, 39, a Bedminster resident who was moving to Falls the day of his arrest, is awaiting execution by lethal injection in the slaying of Newtown police Officer Brian Gregg.
A jury in November sentenced Flor to die for killing Gregg on Sept 29, 2005, in the St. Mary Medical Center emergency room.
Gregg and another officer brought Flor to the emergency room after he was arrested for driving drunk and beating his girlfriend. When Flor's handcuffs were removed so that he could use the bathroom, he grabbed an officer's gun and shot Gregg in the head.
Flor also shot and wounded another police officer and a hospital employee. The slaying was witnessed by dozens of people inside the emergency room. Flor was captured a short time later, hiding in the hospital parking garage.
In his appeal, Flor challenged the constitutionality of his death sentence and complained that his rights were violated in various ways. Among his chief complaints is that Rubenstein should have stepped down from the case after making the “punk” statement at sentencing.
In a blistering, 81-page opinion filed Thursday, Rubenstein said the speech was not only proper but also necessary to underscore the seriousness of Flor's actions.
While it was the jury's responsibility to choose between life or death for Flor, Rubenstein fashioned the sentences for the other counts Flor was convicted of, including wounding the other two shooting victims and terrorizing all the people in the emergency room.
Rubenstein gave Flor an additional 65 to 130 years in jail for those crimes, telling Flor that people will look back on the case and say of Flor: “The punk got what he deserved.”
Flor's lawyers complained that phrase was improper. But, in his opinion, Rubenstein noted that he was simply echoing Flor's words to witnesses in the hours after the killing.
During the melee that left Gregg dead, Flor shot himself in the hand. After he was caught, he was brought back into the emergency room where medical staff treated his gunshot wound before he was taken to prison.
According to a nurse manager who testified at Flor's sentencing, Flor lashed out at the people trying to bandage his hand and said of Gregg, “Young punk got what he deserved.”
Before handing down the sentence, Rubenstein reminded Flor of his outburst.
“Now, Mr. Flor,” the judge said, “there are certain indelible memories in my mind from this hearing. I was stunned with your statements after the shootings. Cruel. Cold. Heartless. But one statement will stick in my mind as long as I live. And that statement was: "The punk got what he deserved.'
“Mr. Flor, I want to remind you of an old biblical prophesy from the Book of Exodus, and it states: "The words you use to condemn will in the end condemn you.' And I am sure that, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, when they read about this sentence, will use your words and say, "That punk got what he deserved.' That is all.”
In his opinion this week, Rubenstein stood behind his words.
“Appellant is apparently implying that this Court exhibited impermissible bias in using the phrase "people will properly say that the punk got what he deserved' when it placed of record the reasons for the Appellant's noncapital sentence after the jury returned its verdict of death.
“The assertion is easily dismissed by recognizing that this Court did not express any manifestly unreasonable judgment, partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will, but simply used the defendant's very own words when it concluded that the jury's verdict was just and proper.”
The judge went on to say that Flor's heinous actions called for strong words in court.
“Appellant and his counsel seem to believe that a sentencing court should be robotic in its demeanor and benign in its sentencing statement without regard to the specific nature of the crimes for which the sentence is imposed.
“In this lengthy penalty hearing, the jury heard riveting, gut-wrenching and, at times, bone-chilling testimony concerning Appellant's homicidal rampage within the close confines of an emergency room in a suburban hospital.''
The judge goes on in his opinion to describe the shooting in detail, saying Flor's intent was to “snuff out as many lives as possible, limited only by the number of bullets” in the gun.
“This civil act, so grievous and dispassionate, was only exceeded by Flor's statements and demeanor after the event when he sought to justify his actions and casually referred to the dead and wounded in less than human terms.
“The court is mandated to explain its reasons of record for its sentence. We would be derelict in that assignment had we failed to consider Flor's cold-hearted remorseless statements made after his arrest.”
By law, an appellate court can reverse a lower court's verdict only if it finds that the verdict is so contrary to the evidence as to “shock one's sense of justice.”
No date has been set for the state Supreme Court to decide Flor's appeal. The Courier Times was unsuccessful in reaching his attorney, Chief Deputy Public Defender Peter Hall, Thursday for comment.
Laurie Mason can be reached at 215-949-4185 or lmason_court@yahoo.com.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Killer Of Roulette Couple's Son Sentenced in Assault
April 17, 2007-A convicted cop killer had choices Monday when it came to charges against him in connection with an assault on a Bucks County Prison corrections officer.
He could have asked for a jury trial or pleaded guilty, but mentally ill. And he could have asked for a pre-sentencing investigation. Instead, and against his attorney's advice, Robert Flor, formerly of Bedminster, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and related charges for a brutal, unprovoked attack on corrections Officer Edward Miles and asked to be sentenced immediately.
Bucks County Judge Kenneth Biehn complied, accepting Flor's plea and sentencing him to seven to 20 years in prison.
It seemed a moot point because Flor, 39, is on death row for the Sept. 29, 2005, slaying of Newtown police Officer Brian Gregg.
Officer Gregg was shot to death in the emergency room of a Bucks County Hospital, by Flor, who had grabbed another officer's weapon. The officers had taken Flor to the hospital for testing after arresting him for DUI.
The popular Newtown officer was the son of John and Nancy Gregg of Roulette.
Click on the title of this article to see the entire article in the Bucks County Courier Times,
