A federal appeals court issued a mixed ruling in remanding a civil rights violation case filed by a Kittanning man serving life in prison for a 1990 murder in Butler County back to U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

A panel of judges in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed, reversed and vacated parts of an appeal self-filed by Steven David Vogt, 50, an inmate at SCI Fayette, in March. The judges also remanded the case.

Vogt and Walter Cowfer, now 52, of Export, were found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery by a jury on Jan. 31, 1991.

They were implicated with three other people in the death of 60-year-old Francis Landry. Authorities believe the group in May 1990 conspired to rob Landry, who had recently moved from his Portersville-area home to Cowfer's place. Vogt and Cowfer reportedly pelted him with rocks for hours as he begged for his life, until he drowned in a strip mine pond in Clay Township.

An autopsy said Landry suffered broken ribs, bruises and scrapes before he died of asphyxiation due to drowning. Landry's body was discovered hours after his death by divers who had been using the pond for training.

The four male defendants reportedly used Landry's car and checkbook to pay for a trip to Florida before their arrest.

Vogt and Cowfer were sentenced by then-Butler County Common Pleas Judge Martin O'Brien to serve life in prison, plus 3 to 6 years.

Codefendant Margaret Zawodniak, then a 32-year-old mother of three, was acquitted by the same jury.

Arthur McClearn, then 27, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, and Michael Sopo, then 20, pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Landry.

Both testified in Vogt and Cowfer's three-day trial. Sopo told the jury the killing was initiated by Vogt because he was angry with Landry for giving him heart medication that he had claimed was a narcotic sedative.

Court records say McClearn was sentenced to 4 to 8 years, and Sopo 1½ to 3 months in state prison. McClearn died in January 2017.

The appeals court ruling reversed the district court's dismissal without prejudice of Vogt's 14th Amendment violation claim, vacated the dismissal without prejudice of his First Amendment violation claim, and affirmed the dismissal with prejudice of his Fifth Amendment violation claim.

The vacated dismissal without prejudice of his First Amendment violation claim was stayed while his Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) litigation proceeds.

An argument or court case dismissed with prejudice is permanently dismissed and cannot be refiled. An argument or case dismissed without prejudice can be refiled.

In a complaint Vogt prepared and filed in October 2017, he argued that his right to due process under the 14th Amendment was violated in October 2016 when prison staff deprived him of personal property without giving him notice. The property was a letter addressed to him that the staff rejected because it didn't contain a return address. The state Department of Corrections has a policy to reject letters to inmates that don't have return addresses, he said. Other letters addressed to him with no return addresses were also rejected, he said.

Some of those letters were given to him in May 2017. One of the letters from codefendant McClearn recanted the testimony he gave at trial and presents and arguable claim for relief and vindication, Vogt said in the complaint. He said McClearn was the prosecution's only source of evidence and testimony related to the robbery and murder Vogt was convicted of.

Vogt's Fifth and First Amendment violation claims are also based on the rejection of mail addressed to him without notice.

He said he filed a PCRA petition based on McClearn's letter in June 2017, but it was deemed untimely and denied in court because it was not filed within 60 days of the date on the letter and because an unsworn letter is not acceptable evidence to repudiate sworn trial testimony.

Had the letter not been rejected or rejected with proper notice, steps could have been taken in a timely manner to investigate and gather evidence to earn a fair hearing on the issues raised by the letter, Vogt said.

A grievance he said he filed in the prison after learning about McClearn's letter was denied and his appeal of that decision was denied.

The relief Vogt is requesting is a minimum of $24 million for damages and injuries for the federal claims.