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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; After three long days of testimony to determine the fate of Kenneth Carl Crawford III, the convicted killer will have to wait a few more months to learn what that fate will be.</p><p>A re-sentencing hearing in connection with Crawford&#8217;s 1999 homicide case concluded Wednesday, but Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III won&#8217;t be handing down a decision until the end of April.</p><p>And in the end, Crawford could receive the same penalty he was given nearly two decades ago.</p><p>Crawford has been serving two life sentences since 2001 for the shooting deaths of Diana Algar and Jose Molina at the Paradise Campsite in Hollenback Township. The Oklahoma native, who was 15 at the time of the murders, was granted a new sentence after a series of Supreme Court decisions blocked mandatory life sentences for juvenile offenders.</p><p>However, a life term could still be on the table; it just wouldn&#8217;t be mandatory. And a life term is exactly what prosecutors are looking for.</p><p>In his closing arguments, First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said while numerous factors need to be taken into account in giving new sentences to juvenile offenders like Crawford, the heinousness of the crime needs to be one of them.</p><p>&#8220;Some murders are in fact more heinous,&#8221; Sanguedolce said, noting the vicious nature in which Crawford and his co-defendant, then 18-year-old David Hanley, planned to attack Algar and Molina.</p><p>Sanguedolce said the court should not only take Crawford&#8217;s attempts at rehabilitation into account, but also the safety of the public.</p><p>When asking for a sentence for Crawford, Sanguedolce used the opportunity to disagree with Pierantoni on a key point.</p><p>Last Friday, Pierantoni announced his intent to give Crawford a new sentence not just on the murder charges but on all related charges to the crime.</p><p>While asking for Crawford to be sentenced to two consecutive terms of 35 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, Sanguedolce said he was respectfully asking for the remaining sentences to stay intact.</p><p>Crawford&#8217;s attorney, though, focused on the way she said Crawford has attempted to rehabilitate himself.</p><p>Sara Jacobson started the day by calling a final handful of witnesses, all of whom work at SCI Greene, where Crawford has been housed for more than a decade.</p><p>The prison employees all suggested Crawford has been a model inmate, using his role as a peer counselor to help better the lives of fellow inmates.</p><p>Jacobson echoed many of her previous points, saying Crawford&#8217;s violent past was due to his abusive upbringing.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not trying to excuse what happened here; we&#8217;re trying to explain it,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Jacobson pleaded with Pierantoni to remember that people change over time.</p><p>&#8220;Kids are different; kids are worth more than the worst thing they&#8217;ve done,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Pierantoni ended proceedings by setting a date on which he will announce Crawford&#8217;s new sentence: April 30. Counsel will have time between now and then to make additional filings.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Convicted killer Kenneth Crawford is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse on Wednesday morning for the third day of his re-sentencing hearing in connection with the 1999 shooting deaths of two people. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL020118Crawford2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Convicted killer Kenneth Crawford is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse on Wednesday morning for the third day of his re-sentencing hearing in connection with the 1999 shooting deaths of two people. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL020118Crawford2CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Convicted killer Kenneth Crawford is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse on Wednesday morning for the third day of his re-sentencing hearing in connection with the 1999 shooting deaths of two people. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_TTL020118Crawford2CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Convicted killer Kenneth Crawford is led into the Luzerne County Courthouse on Wednesday morning for the third day of his re-sentencing hearing in connection with the 1999 shooting deaths of two people. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Testimony ends in re-sentencing for convicted killer; sentencing date set