Trial has been set for October in the homicide case against Bradford businessman Stephen Stidd, accused of shooting his son-in-law in January 2015 behind Togi’s Restaurant in East Bradford.
Stidd, 65, is jailed without bail on one count of homicide for the death of Melvin Bizzarro, who died from a single gunshot wound to the chest around 9:30 a.m. Jan. 16, 2015, in the rear parking lot of Togi’s Restaurant, allegedly following an argument with Stidd.
McKean County Court administrator Joanne Bly said the trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Oct. 23, “and it may go into the following week, maybe until Tuesday.”
Senior Judge John Cleland will preside.
Stidd is represented by attorneys Greg Henry and James P. Miller. The prosecution will be handled by the state attorney general’s office, with L. Todd Goodwin and Bobbi Jo Wagner as attorneys.
Stidd has been jailed since his arrest in April 2017. His attorneys had petitioned Cleland to allow Stidd’s release on bail, but the motion was denied. The attorneys appealed the denial to the state Superior Court. On July 19, the Superior Court upheld Cleland’s decision.
The case has been complicated from the beginning. The defense has never denied that Stidd pulled the trigger, but they assert the action was done in self-defense against a man who had assaulted him in the past.
Stidd had been charged shortly after the shooting, but the case was dismissed at the preliminary hearing by District Judge Dominic Cercone on Feb. 24, 2015, who held that Stidd acted in self defense. The case was referred to the attorney general’s office for continued investigation and to explore the possibility of refiling the charges.
On March 26 of that year, a state police lab report was issued, indicating the round remaining in Stidd’s gun had misfired. That round had the word “MEL” carved into it, police said. Upon further investigation, police learned that Stidd had received his license to carry a firearm 20 days before the shooting, the criminal complaint indicated.
State police interviewed people who knew both Stidd and Bizzarro, including someone who said Stidd had told him in the past that he had “something for” Bizzarro while patting his pocket where his gun was kept, the criminal complaint read.
When the charges were re-filed in April, Henry had this to say about the case: “We believe that Stephen Stidd is innocent. Over two years ago a neutral magistrate concluded that the evidence for justification was evident and compelling. With the refiling of these charges, the state government has pronounced its unalterable intention to try the case. With the grace of God, Steve’s peers will see for themselves the truth of his innocence.”
Joe Grace, spokesman for Attorney General Josh Shapiro had no comment on the case in April as of Stidd’s arrest, saying only, “I believe the criminal complaint indicates the nature of the conflict and why the case came to the attorney general’s office. We support the charges as filed. We’ll stand on the criminal complaint and the charges in it.”
