RIDGWAY — The murder trial which began with a surprise admission of guilt has ended with an obligatory sentence of life in prison for Nicholas Martin, the Johnsonburg man convicted of fatally stabbing his on-again, off-again girlfriend and disposing of the body in a wooded park. 

Martin was sentenced on Wednesday in Elk County Court, where a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the 2013 death of 18-year-old Alyssa Forsyth, at the end of a whirlwind, week-long trial in March. 

The verdict carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison and, under current state law, no chance for parole, President Judge Richard A. Masson explained. 

This means that at just 24-years-of-age Martin is preparing to spend the rest of his life behind bars, a fitting end to what prosecutors and the victim’s family called a criminal career devoid of remorse and marked by violence. 

In victim impact statements provided to the court, relatives of Forsyth said Martin acted knowingly when he stabbed her more than 100 times inside his First Avenue apartment in Johnsonburg, before dumping her body in a remote corner of an area park. 

The killing, they said, was the culmination of years of domestic violence and abuse, not the impulsive “crime of passion” portrayed by the defense.  

“He planned this and succeeded,” Forsyth’s mother, Susan Trumbull, said Wednesday, adding that she’s still haunted by the details of the crime and dependent on prescription drugs to cope. 

“I have panic attacks … I have nightmares of her begging for her life and asking for her mom,” she said. 

Trumbull urged the court to “give him life. Let him think about what he has done and die alone like she did.” 

Prosecuting attorney Laura Ditka of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General cited Martin’s criminal history, one spanning multiple years, jurisdictions and violent offenses, as proof he is incapable of rehabilitation, saying, “we can’t bring Alyssa back but we can make sure he doesn’t do this again.” 

Forsyth’s aunt said of Martin: “I hope God’s wrath rains down on him by the bucket load.” 

But with the sentence all but pre-determined, the appeals amounted more to cathartic expressions of grief than factors influencing an outcome. 

Martin sat quietly at the defense table throughout, standing only to offer an apology to Forsyth’s mother when given the chance. 

“I truly am sorry from the bottom of my heart,” he said, softly. “I hope in time you can accept that much.”  

Prosecutors made Martin’s previous expressions of remorse, or lack-thereof, a focus of their case at trial, hoping it would mean the difference between a first-degree murder conviction and the lesser counts sought by his attorneys. 

The defense began by acknowledging Martin’s guilt, in a rare and mostly unexpected move. 

It went on to claim that his substance abuse, mental state and tumultuous relationship with Forsyth laid the groundwork for a deadly argument between the two at his apartment on March 23, 2013. 

While jurors ultimately rejected the claims in returning the toughest conviction at their disposal, a member of the panel in attendance at Wednesday’s hearing said there was doubt and reluctance from some at first.

In providing the first glimpse into the jury room during brief but heated deliberations in the case, Bob Rudolph, or Juror # 7, said two male panelists were initially unconvinced that Martin intended to kill Forsyth, a cornerstone of the first-degree murder conviction.  

“‘I can’t put him in prison (for the rest of his life) if he didn’t know what he was doing,’” Rudolph recalled one of the men saying, likely a reference to defense claims that Martin suffered a “red out” or fit of blind rage at the time of the killing, one that left him largely unaccountable for his actions.  

In response, Rudolph said fellow jurors argued, “he knew enough to cover up,” a reference to Martin’s disposal of Forsyth’s body which was found dumped in Ridgway Township’s Sandy Beach Recreational Area, nude and wrapped in trash bags. 

Bleach and blood were also found in his apartment, along with missing sections of blood soaked carpet torn from the floor and placed in the garbage. 

For Rudolph, a St. Marys resident, the case was “cut and dry” and the ambivalence of his fellow jurors “shocking.” 

After some discussion and two inconclusive votes, he said both holdouts reconsidered and all 12 jurors agreed on the first-degree verdict. Otherwise, the jury, made up of six men and six women, would have had to consider lesser counts of third-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, neither of which would have seen Martin sentenced to life. 

With that sentence handed down on Wednesday, Rudolph said he still thinks they made the right decision, telling The Era he didn’t buy defense claims of a “red out.” 

He also dismissed assertions that Martin’s upbringing in troubled corners of Philadelphia, where he lived before moving to Elk County, and his parents’ divorce paved the way for his criminal behavior. 

And as for the prospect of Martin spending the rest of his young life in jail, the juror said, “I don’t care if he’s 14 or 34, he killed that girl and there’s not much more to talk about.”  

Outside the courthouse, former Johnsonburg Borough police chief Bryan Parana, among the first to investigate Forsyth’s death and disappearance, said Martin “got what he deserved.” 

Ditka said Forsyth’s family did too, adding, “this is a blessing for them. You can’t bring back their child but at least now they can move forward.” 

Masson acknowledged the potential for a sense of closure through sentencing, saying, “It is beyond the power of the court to make this right, but I hope today will assist in the healing of those affected.” 

The sentence can be appealed, however, something alluded to, but unconfirmed, by defense attorney George Daghir of St. Marys during the hearing. 

Afterward, Martin was returned to custody, where he has remained since his March 26, 2013 arrest. 

After spending the last two years in county lockup, he is now headed into state correctional custody, beginning with a diagnostic unit in Pittsburgh. 

In addition to his life sentence on the first-degree murder count, Martin was also sentenced to up to two years in prison on a misdemeanor count of abuse of a corpse, with credit for two years already served. 

A small group of his family members present at the hearing, including his father Mike, did not address the court and declined comment when approached by The Era