Charges in connection with slaying go to court
A Mercer County man and a Butler woman will be heading to Butler County Court on charges filed in connection with the death of a Kittanning man.
The pair were charged in the death of Gregory W. Bosko, 55, on March 21. Bosko's body was found in a wooded area April 1, wrapped in a green blanket with his throat cut.
Joshua K. Greaves, 34, of Mercer, was charged with homicide, felony robbery, robbery of a motor vehicle, theft, receiving stolen property, hindering apprehension, misdemeanor receiving stolen property, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy counts to all.
Tiffany N. Hilliard, 30, of Butler was not charged with homicide but otherwise was facing the same charges as Greaves.
Many of Greaves' charges were bound over after the hearing before District Judge Kevin O'Donnell, except a conspiracy to commit robbery charge, which was dismissed — while Hilliard waived her charges to county court.
The couple was arrested March 24 after allegedly being found in Bosko's vehicle in the 300 block of West Wayne Street. Police responded to a call of people doing drugs in a car. The two allegedly gave false names to police, and once identified, were found to be wanted on bench warrants. Greaves also was allegedly found in possession of three stamp bags of heroin. Both face charges in that incident as well.
Testimony during Greaves' hearing came from Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Chris Balcik and relied heavily on Hilliard's interviews with police, where she relayed that Greaves slashed Bosko's throat during a drug deal, and the couple disposed of Bosko's body in a wooded area on Redbud Road.
Balcik testified that while Hilliard was incarcerated in the Butler County Prison, recorded phone calls were intercepted between her and her mother, where she confessed that Bosko was dead and Greaves had committed the murder.
At the time, Balcik said he was aware of a report that Bosko had been reported missing from Kittaning. Following the intercepted calls, police interviewed Hilliard, who reported that the couple had been staying at Bosko's apartment in Kittaning, when they contacted him for a ride to purchase drugs.
Balcik said Hilliard reported that they had driven to the 200 block of Main Street in Lyndora to make the purchase, and after she completed the deal, she returned to the vehicle and was in the process of handing the two men the drugs, when Greaves slit Bosko's throat multiple times from behind with a razor-blade type knife.
Following the incident, she reported that the couple moved Bosko's body to the back seat and covered him using bloody clothing which they had removed before driving to Sheetz and using money from Bosko's wallet to purchase gasoline.Balcik said she then reported the two drove to a wooded area off Redbud Road, Concord Township, where they wrapped Bosko's body in the blanket and carried him into the woods.She reported that they then returned to Bosko's home in Kittanning to get their belongings, clean up and use heroin, Balcik testified. While there, the couple took a BB gun and a small computer, he said, and then later returned to Butler, where Hilliard reported they disposed of their bloody clothes in a dumpster near 339 Center Ave.Balcik said no murder weapon or bloody clothing was ever found following a search of the dumpster and the landfill where the dumpster would have been emptied.Bosko's body was eventually found on April 1, he said.Butler County Coroner William Young III ruled Bosko's death a homicide. He said the cause of death was “sharp trauma of the neck,” and that the man's throat had been slit “multiple times.”Greaves' attorney, Christopher Capozzi, raised an objection early in the hearing regarding the Balcik's testimony being based on hearsay from Hilliard, stating that she is a co-defendant in the case and would be privileged against testifying at trial.The testimony was permitted by Judge O'Donnell.Following testimony, Capozzi argued that the evidence supported many charges, but one of the counts of receiving stolen property and a count of conspiracy to commit robbery had not been proven.O'Donnell partially agreed, dismissing only the conspiracy to commit robbery charge.Capozzi and Assistant District Attorney Richard Bosco, who is prosecuting the case, both declined to comment following the hearing. Family members of both Bosko and Greaves, who filled out the courtroom Thursday, also declined to comment.Hilliard's attorney, Chief Public Defender Kevin Flaherty, said his client waived her hearing as she has continued to cooperate with authorities and “she has a great deal of remorse” regarding the incident.“Her cooperation has been substantial and we anticipate that she will continue to cooperate with authorities,” he said.Greaves continues to be held in the Butler County Prison after bail was denied, and Hilliard continues to be held on $500,000 cash bail, as well as probation detainers in three unrelated cases.
