Man charged with manslaughter in death of tree service worker

MOUNT MORRIS — A Wyoming County man has been arrested on manslaughter charges after an investigation by Livingston County Sheriff’s Investigators, Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty reported Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Kenneth F. Murtha, 84, of Warsaw, was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter, a class C felony.

The arrest stems from an incident that occurred on May 21 at approximately 11:05 a.m., when Sheriff’s Deputies along with EMS and ALS responded to a residence on Ridge Road in the Town of Mount Morris to investigate a reported electrocution of a tree removal service worker. The responding Deputies, Mount Morris EMS, and Livingston County ALS arrived on scene and attempted life saving measures but were unable to resuscitate the victim. The victim was identified as 21-year-old Cecil W. Beardslee-West of Perry.

Through the on scene investigation it was found that the victim was working for Ken’s Tree Service at the private residence. The victim was holding onto a metal chain that was attached to a crane that was moving logs from the back of the residence to the front yard near the road edge. While the victim was holding onto the chain, the metal chain made contact with an overhead power line, electrocuting him.

Sheriff’s Investigators continued to investigate the incident and worked collaboratively with the NYS Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the District Attorney’s Office. The nearly three-month-long investigation alleges that Kenneth Murtha, the owner of the business, was operating the crane on the day in question. It is further alleged that Murtha’s operation of the crane and failure to put safety measures in place recklessly caused the death of the 21-year-old employee. The employee had only been working for the tree service for a week and it is alleged that Murtha put him in danger by operating the crane too close to the power lines and failed to put known proper safety protocols in place. Additionally, Murtha did not have a license to legally operate the crane and had previously failed his practical portion of the exam.

Manslaughter in the Second Degree in New York states that a person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when he recklessly causes the death of another person. The definition of recklessly in the New York State penal law states “A person acts recklessly with respect to a result or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense when he is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such result will occur or that such circumstance exists. The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation. A person who creates such a risk but is unaware thereof solely by reason of voluntary intoxication also acts recklessly with respect thereto.”

Murtha was turned over to Central Booking Deputies at the Livingston County Jail for processing and pre-arraignment detention. The District Attorney’s Office was contacted in regards to bail due to the felony level charges. It was recommended that Murtha be held on $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 bond.

Murtha was later arraigned at the Livingston County Centralized Arraignment Part at the Livingston County Jail before Village of Dansville Judge Scott Kenney. The Judge did remand Murtha to the custody of the Sheriff on $1,000 cash bail or $2,000 bond.

Investigating the incident for the Sheriff’s Office was members of the Command Staff, Criminal Investigations Division, Patrol Division, and Forensic Identification Unit.