‘I think that’s what kept him going’: Subu Vedam family addresses support at film screening
Saraswathi Vedam made clear Friday night that her younger brother — a State College man who spent more than four decades in prison before his murder conviction was vacated and is now facing deportation — is tired of waiting.
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, 64, has spent nearly his entire adult life behind bars, and the passage of time is written plainly on his face. Gone are his long, dark hair and full beard. His hair is now cropped close and gray, his beard trimmed and faded.
He swapped Huntingdon state prison in October for the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility just outside of Philipsburg. As he awaits a deportation hearing, his family is cautiously hoping they’ll get to bring him home.
“We’ve had many disappointments over many decades, and my brother is nothing if not resilient,” Saraswathi Vedam told a crowd gathered Friday at University Baptist & Brethren Church. “But it’s getting old for him. He’s tired. Mostly he’s tired because he’s in a setting that’s very different from those four decades.”
Her answer came during a roughly 15-minute Q&A following a screening of the latest Sundance TV episode of “True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here,” which highlighted Subu and renewed national attention on the case. About 65 people attended the event organized by Central PA United.
Saraswathi also said her brother is adjusting to a facility of mostly young people without much experience in the justice system. As he nears retirement age, Subu is often at a different stage of life than many of his fellow detainees.
But he’s also been stunned that “so many people still care” about his fight for freedom, Saraswathi said.
“He had no idea that this was part of the public discourse and that was very heartening for him,” Saraswathi said. “When I tell him ‘All these people showed up, and they’re interested and willing to stand up for justice,’ I think that’s what’s kept him going all this time.”
Circumstantial case collapses after new evidence surfaces
Subu Vedam was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole following his first-degree murder conviction in the fatal 1980 shooting of Thomas Kinser, a 19-year-old Boalsburg man whose remains were found in a sinkhole about nine months after he went missing.
Centre County prosecutors alleged Vedam used a .25-caliber handgun to kill Kinser, but the circumstantial case unraveled last year after Vedam’s defense attorneys uncovered ballistics evidence prosecutors had not disclosed.
In vacating the conviction, Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine found the evidence could have “severed the link” between Vedam and the killing.
The document came to light after Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna voluntarily turned over the case files. His office spent years defending the conviction before deciding in September that it would not appeal Grine’s ruling.
With key witnesses dead and some evidence no longer available, Cantorna later dropped the murder charge.
“While the Centre County District Attorney’s office deserves credit for opening up their files and ultimately dismissing the case against Subu, they do not get a free pass,” lead defense attorney Gopal Balachandran wrote in a statement Friday after the screening. “The strength of our Constitutional arguments was apparent back in January 2024.
“If they had agreed to relief, as they should have, instead of raising both costly and meritless defenses, Subu would already be with his family. That failure to do the right thing has cost Subu two years and counting on top of decades of wrongful incarceration.”
‘He will be free’
Vedam was moved from Huntingdon state prison straight into ICE custody a day after the murder charge was dropped. He remains at Moshannon, where he has spent much of the past five months.
ICE sought to deport him based on a felony drug conviction for selling LSD in State College. He pleaded no contest to drug charges in 1984 — after he was convicted of murder.
An immigration judge appointed by Attorney General Pam Bondi vacated the deportation order in February, describing it as an “exceptional situation.” The ruling restored Vedam’s permanent U.S. residency but ultimately did not prevent ICE from trying to deport him again.
His family then fought for him to be released on bond while contesting deportation, but had their hopes dashed by a separate immigration judge. His attorneys have since appealed. Speaking Friday, Saraswathi Vedam said the ruling was a “deep disappointment.”
“We keep hoping — this time, this time,” she said.
The reopened case challenging deportation has been assigned to immigration Judge William H. McDermott, who hears cases in Philadelphia. A status hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, when he is expected to set a date to hear the merits of Vedam’s claims.
Vedam came to the U.S. legally from India as an infant and was raised in State College. His family was the first from India to make their home in Happy Valley and was a pillar of the community, especially among immigrants.
Among other roles, his father was a physics professor at Penn State and his mother was a well-known cook and helped found Schlow Centre Region Library.
“He will be free,” Balachandran said. “We don’t know when and we don’t necessarily know where, but he will be free and that’s not something that could have been said a year ago.”