Podnebennyy found guilty of first-degree murder

The Podnebennyy murder trial ended Tuesday in the Centre County Courthouse as juror No. 10 read the verdict: guilty on all charges.

Vladimir Podnebennyy, 64, was charged in the stabbing death of his wife, Natalya Podnebennaya, in October 2015 near their College Township home. The court sought verdicts on charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime.

Podnebennyy was accused of luring his wife to their home to plead for her return after she sought shelter with the Centre County Women’s Resource Center. When she refused, he took a knife she kept in the car from her and stabbed her in the chest, with two of the wounds causing fatal injuries.

The trial, which began Sept. 23, saw testimony by police officers and EMS personnel who were first on the scene, forensic testimony regarding the wounds found on Podnebennaya’s body and the words of Podnebennyy’s own daughters recounting the days leading up to the stabbing.

While the trial was slated to continue into Friday, the District Attorney’s Office wrapped up its witness testimonies by Tuesday afternoon. State College police detectives Stephen Bosak and Chris Weaver provided the final testimonies of the day.

Bosak testified to his initial interview with Podnebennyy, who he said admitted to killing his wife and demonstrated how he had stabbed her. Bosak said he noticed a “reddish substance” on Podnebenny’s sweater cuff and on his hands that was later proven to be blood.

Bosak also read from transcripts of calls Podnebennyy made from prison. The transcripts had been translated from Russian by an outside agency because Podnebennyy does not speak English.

Podnebennyy was assisted by translators throughout the trial.

According to the transcripts, Podnebennyy told one of his daughters that his wife was “arrogant” and “shouldn’t have threatened me like that.” While he said he wished he could go back in time, it was “all meant to be,” saying, “I am not even upset it happened this way.”

According to testimony, Podnebennaya was holding the knife when Podnebennyy took it from her and stabbed her. She attempted to take the knife during the attack, which resulted in wounds to her hands.

Weaver read further translated transcripts of Podnebennyy’s statements from prison in which he described taking the knife from his wife when he confronted her. His initial thoughts, he said, were to toss the knife away, but his wife accused him of being a “coward and a wimp.”

“To call me a coward, my mind snapped,” Podnebennyy’s transcript read. After the stabbing, he realized he needed to turn himself in.

After the commonwealth rested its case, the court gave Podnebennyy the opportunity to testify for himself. He waived his right to take the stand. Attorney Karen Muir had no other witnesses.

Muir attempted to argue that President Judge Thomas King Kistler give the jury instructions to consider involuntary manslaughter, saying that the stabbing could be considered an act of sudden passion or provocation. Kistler ruled that it would not be included as an option.

After about two hours of deliberations, the jury returned the verdict of guilty on all counts. Kistler sentenced Podnebennyy to life in prison in a state correctional facility.

Muir said she and Podnebennyy will discuss whether he wants to file an appeal or not, saying there were some rulings made in trial they need to fully explore.

“The biggest thing right now,” Muir said, “is he’s going to have to adjust, at 64, to spending the rest of his life in jail.”

District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said it was satisfying that the jury saw the truth and returned a guilty verdict, but that the commonwealth doesn’t celebrate murder verdicts.

“What we would really prefer is it doesn’t happen in the first place,” she said. “It’s also extremely difficult for the daughters in this case, because to achieve justice means they lost their father.”

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Podnebennyy found guilty of first-degree murder."