A West Conshohocken woman’s family confronts her killer as he’s sentenced to life in prison
Alyssa Wiest's loved ones took turns Thursday describing the immense loss they've felt since she was killed by Michael Dutkiewicz. Dutkiewicz was convicted of first-degree murder.
Kurt Wiest stared down his sister Alyssa’s killer in a Montgomery County courtroom Thursday with the indignant grief that he said fills his loved ones.
Wiest called Michael Dutkiewicz “an animal and an executioner.” He said he takes joy in knowing Dutkiewicz will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted by a jury of first-degree murder for killing Wiest’s sister after she ended their relationship.
“Alyssa deserved to grow old, deserved to be the aunt of my unborn son,”he said. “She deserved to chase her dreams and to actually fall in love.
“Instead we’re left to pick up the pieces of a life destroyed by violence.”
Earlier Thursday, it took a Montgomery County jury less than an hour to convict Dutkiewicz, of Warminster, of first-degree murder at the end of his three-day trial in Norristown.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele had urged jurors to reach that verdict, saying Dutkiewicz’s actions clearly showed he planned and carried out the fatal shooting of Wiest on May 18.
Dutkiewicz shot Wiest,25, five times with her .38 caliber revolver, killing her execution-style with a final shot to her head as she lay critically wounded on the sidewalk outside her West Conshohocken home.
“If he couldn’t have her, no one would,” Steele said in his closing arguments as he stood in front of Dutkiewicz. “He made sure of that.”
Dutkiewicz showed no emotion after the verdict was read and his sentence was handed down by Montgomery County Court Judge Wendy Rothstein.
During his sentencing hearing, Dutkiewicz stared blankly at Wiest’s father, also named Kurt, drawing accusations of being smug and unrepentant.
In turn, the elder Wiest suggested he read a Bible. It would be the only way, he said, Dutkiewicz would “get into Heaven.”
Dutkiewicz’s attorney, Timothy Woodward, asked jurors to separate their emotions from the facts of the case and consider that Dutkiewicz, awash with anger over the “unexpected, unforeseen breakup,” was not in his right mind at the time of the shooting.
Wiest and Dutkiewicz had been dating for 14 months, he said. They had just come back from a vacation to Punta Cana, and had made plans for a trip to Florida for Phillies spring training.
Wiest’s decision to break up with Dutkiewicz after a night spent drinking with friends blindsided him and sent him into a rage, the lawyer said.
“Drinking transforms people. It makes them do things they never intended to do,” Woodward said. “When you couple all of that with a breakup, with rejection, with feelings of loss, sadness, and grief, it can cause you to lose your mind.
“That’s what happened in this case.”
Steele presented evidence he said showed Dutkiewicz not only planned the shooting of Wiest but also carried it out without hesitation or signs of emotion. He could have stopped at any point, Steele said, but instead, he decided to “chase and hunt” Wiest with a deadly weapon.
He googled how to load and fire Wiest’s revolver, then confronted her with the weapon as she lay in bed, minutes after she packed his clothes in a suitcase and told him to leave her home.
As Wiest ran from him down the stairs and out the front door, Dutkiewicz fired multiple times, hitting her twice in her back.
“Every one of those shots shows his intent,” Steele said. “He used everything in that gun to do what he wanted to do.”
Wiest’s Ring doorbell camera captured the pursuit, as well as the sounds of the gunfire.
When Wiest collapsed from her injuries, Dutkiewicz stood over her and fired one final shot at her head.
He then fled, and as concerned neighbors emerged from their homes, the district attorney said, Dutkiewicz sped to Wildwood, where he hid the murder weapon.
Wiest’s friends from the University of Delaware testified Thursday that she was ambitious and loving, a microbiologist at GSK whose infectious laugh was a source of light and joy.
To honor Wiest’s memory, her parents have started the Alyssa Rose Foundation, which provides resources to women looking to pursue a career in science.