TOWN OF MOUNT MORRIS: Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty reports
the arrest of a Wyoming County man on Manslaughter charges after an
investigation by Livingston County Sheriff’s Investigators. On August 20, 2019 Kenneth F. Murtha, age 84
from Warsaw NY, was arrested and charged with Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree, a
class C felony.
The arrest stems from an incident that occurred on May 21,
2019 at approximately 11:05 am, when Sheriff’s Deputies along with EMS and ALS
responded to a residence on Ridge Road in the Town of Mount Morris to
investigate a reported electrocution of a tree removal service worker. The
responding Deputies, Mount Morris EMS, and Livingston County ALS arrived on
scene and attempted life saving measures but were unable to resuscitate the
victim. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Cecil W. Beardslee-West from
Perry, NY.
Through the on-scene investigation it was found that the
victim was working for Ken’s Tree Service at the private residence. The victim
was holding onto a metal chain that was attached to a crane that was moving
logs from the back of the residence to the front yard near the road edge. While
the victim was holding onto the chain, the metal chain made contact with an
overhead power line, electrocuting him.
Sheriff’s Investigators continued to investigate the
incident and worked collaboratively with the NYS Department of Labor, the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the District
Attorney’s Office. The nearly three month long investigation alleges that
Kenneth Murtha, the owner of the business, was operating the crane on the day
in question. It is further alleged that Murtha’s operation of the crane and
failure to put safety measures in place recklessly caused the death of the 21-year-old
employee. The employee had only been working for the tree service for a week
and it is alleged that Murtha put him in danger by operating the crane too
close to the power lines and failed to put known proper safety protocols in place. Additionally, Murtha did not have a
license to legally operate the crane and had previously failed his practical
portion of the exam. Manslaughter in the Second Degree in New York states that
a person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when he recklessly
causes the death of another person. The definition of recklessly in the New
York State penal law states “A person acts recklessly with respect to a result
or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is
aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that
such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of
such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation
from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the
situation. A person who creates such a risk but is unaware thereof solely by
reason of voluntary intoxication also acts recklessly with respect thereto.”
Murtha was turned over to Central Booking Deputies at the
Livingston County Jail for processing and pre-arraignment detention. The
District Attorney’s Office was contacted in regards to bail due to the felony
level charges. It was recommended that Murtha be held on $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 bond. Murtha was later arraigned
at the Livingston County Centralized Arraignment Part (LC-CAP) at the
Livingston County Jail before Village of Dansville Judge Scott Kenney. The
Judge did remand Murtha to the custody of the Sheriff on $1,000 cash bail or
$2,000 bond. Investigating the incident for the Sheriff’s Office was members of
the Command Staff, Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Patrol Division, and
Forensic Identification Unit (FIU).
