NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A Bucks County man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being found guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting his girlfriend outside her West Conshohocken home minutes after she broke up with him.
On May 18, prosecutors said 27-year-old Michael Dutkiewicz, of Warrington, and 25-year-old Alyssa Wiest were out at a bar with his family. About 25 minutes after they got back to her house in West Conshocken, doorbell video shows her carrying his suitcase out to the driveway. Prosecutors said Wiest had just ended their 14-month relationship.
She went back inside, up to her bedroom. Then, prosecutors said Dutkiewicz got her gun out of her TV console, searched on his phone, “How to load and shoot a revolver,” and followed her to her bedroom.
He fired two shots as she ran down the stairs, then three more after she ran out the front door.
Medical examiner Ian Hood testified earlier this week that Wiest was shot four times in the back. One of those shots went through her spine, immediately paralyzing her before it tore through her heart, killing her within seconds. Hood also said Wiest was shot in the head after she fell to the ground, but it was a graze wound.
After the shooting, officials said Dutkiewicz drove to his family’s home in North Wildwood and hid the gun, which was later recovered with cooperation from him and his parents.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Dutkiewicz’s actions before, during, and after he shot and killed Wiest show it was “willful, deliberate, and premeditated”— key elements of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Dutkiewicz’s lawyer, Tim Woodward, argued his client was blindsided by the break-up, telling the jury that alcohol, combined with the sudden rejection, grief, loss and sadness, can cause you to lose your mind.
He said that doesn’t excuse what Dutkiewicz did, but he argued for third-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
After a brief deliberation on Thursday, the jury ultimately convicted Dutkiewicz of first-degree murder.
Remembering Alyssa Wiest
Alyssa was a microbiologist at GSK, and in her memory, the family has started the Alyssa Rose STEM Foundation and Scholarship fund, which will support women in STEM careers while also raising awareness of domestic violence. Alyssa’s father, Kurt Wiest, said his daughter was a superstar who touched many lives.
“It changed her life. Her education in the STEM field changed her life, and likewise, we want to change the lives of others just like her,” he said.
District Attorney Steele said the verdict came back on National Domestic Violence Awareness Day.
“It's such a dangerous time during a breakup, and we have a lot of resources in our community for people, and I just hope that everybody is conscious of the dangers and takes things to protect themselves in these situations," he said.
Dutkiewicz showed no emotion as he was led away to serve a mandatory life sentence with no parole.