A Chester man convicted of the 1989 murder of an Engineering freshman will be sentenced to life in jail without any possibilty for parole today in the Delaware County Courthouse. Arnold Butcher, 21, was convicted of first degree murder last month, after a judge decided Butcher acted in an "intentional and premeditated manner" when he shot former student Tyrone Robertson. Delaware County Assistant District Attorney Jay Mattera said last week Butcher will only be allowed to leave prison if he receives a pardon from the governor. Butcher's attorney, Spiros Angelos, said he will appeal the decision. Judge Antonio Semeraro reached his verdict last month in Butcher's "degree of guilt" hearing, in which Butcher admitted to shooting Robertson, but claimed it was accidental. According to eyewitness testimony, Butcher shot Robertson outside a seafood restaurant in Chester when Robertson's brother Paul became involved in a fight with Butcher and two other Chester men, Michael Shaw and Dwight Townsend. Shaw and Townsend, who pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in February, will also be sentenced today. Townsend's attorney, Eileen Courtney, said she will ask the judge to set Townsend free, as he has already spent four months in prison, and court guidelines recommend that he receive up to 12 months. Attorneys said that Robertson's family will make a plea in court today that the judge give Shaw and Townsend the maximum allowable sentence of five years in prison.
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