WASHINGTON COUNTY — A Washington County father accused of murdering his newborn son is now at the center of an escalating political and legal showdown — and the case could end up before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Coroner Tim Warco now claims he falsified the baby’s death certificate — and says District Attorney Jason Walsh pressured him to do it to help win an election.
Two-month-old Sawyer Clarke died more than three years ago after being rushed from his Peters Township home to UPMC Children’s Hospital. The baby’s father, told investigators he tripped on a plastic bag while holding his son.
The coroner says the original death certificate, filed by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner, listed the cause of death as “undetermined.” According to Warco’s sworn affidavit, Walsh asked him to file a second death certificate, changing the cause to homicide.
District Attorney Walsh denies the claim, calling it “completely insane and ludicrous.” Walsh says court documents show he filed a notice to seek the death penalty five months before the coroner’s autopsy report — basing the case on the hospital’s findings alone.
According to the criminal complaint, doctors at Children’s Hospital were deeply concerned about possible abuse, citing hematomas on both sides of the baby’s brain, retinal bleeding, and signs of possible broken bones.
Francis Harvey with the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, a nonprofit that helps people facing the death penalty, says the group is asking Pennsylvania’s highest court to intervene.
“The Allegheny County Medical Examiner issued the original death certificate,” Harvey said. “A few weeks later, according to the affidavit, DA Walsh asked Coroner Warco to file an additional one with a different cause and manner of death.”
The Atlantic Center also argues that Washington County’s use of the death penalty is unusually aggressive compared to other parts of Pennsylvania.
“We noticed Washington County was a hotspot several years ago — the rate at which the district attorney was seeking death was so far out of the mainstream,” Harvey said.
Coroner Warco declined to comment further but says he stands by his sworn statement and believes this will be heard by the Supreme Court.
Walsh, meanwhile, says Warco should be held accountable for admitting to fraud.
“I also question his mental fitness. He admits he committed fraud while in office,” Walsh said.
The father’s trial is scheduled for early next year. The suspect’s defense attorney, Bill Diffendorfer, says he and his client were blindsided by the coroner’s affidavit and plan to file new motions soon.
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