Site last updated: Monday, September 7, 2026

Log In

Reset Password
Butler County's great daily newspaper

3 killed in 3-vehicle crash on I-80

CLINTON TWP, Venango County — Three people were killed and seven injured Wednesday night in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 near the Clintonvile exit, state police said.

Among the dead were a newly married young woman and a 10-year-old boy, according to reports.

The boy's father, a rabbi, was critically injured and is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

The crash closed both eastbound lanes between the Clinton and Emlenton exits for about 10 hours. State police reported the right lane reopened at 7 a.m. today.

Investigators believe the icy conditions on the road could have been a factor in the 8:55 p.m. accident just a few miles north of the Butler County line.

Venango County Deputy Coroner Chris Hile, also an officer with the Emlenton Volunteer Fire Department, pronounced all three victims dead at the scene.

Killed were Thomas Hugh Munsell, 66, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Pasha Azulay, 20, and Avrohom Liberow, 10, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Police said the boy and Azulay were passengers in a Honda Odyssey that his father, Rabbi Zalman Liberow, 45, of Brooklyn, was reportedly driving home from a wedding in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Liberow was flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Seneca in Venango County.

Three other passengers in the minivan were taken to unspecified hospitals.

Police identified those passengers as Liberow's wife, 41-year-old Chana Liberow, and three girls, ages 2, 11 and 17, all of Brooklyn.

Munsell's wife, Debra Darden-Munsell, 58, a passenger in the 2003 Honda Element he was driving, was treated at Grove City Medical Center for minor injuries.

The third driver, John D. Davis, 52, of Shelby, Ohio, who was in a 2007 International Eagle tractor-trailer, had minor injuries. It was not immediately known if he needed hospital treatment.

More in Digital Media Exclusive

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

* indicates required
TODAY'S PHOTOS