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John Murtha — Part 1
Page 79
79 / 92
AO 72A
(Rev. 8/82)
involved in this otherwise private dispute bears further discussion.
Fenton, an odd jobs contractor by trade and a community activist by self-profession,
developed a somewhat grandiose plan by which he believed he could rejuvenate Johnstown’s
flagging local economy. This plan, according to Fenton, required some $60 million in federal
funding. To secure that money, he contacted the offices of Congressman Murtha and was
directed to Murtha’s local aide, John Hugya. Hugya agreed to meet Fenton and discuss his plan
sometime in July 1996 at a restaurant at the top of the Johnstown Inclined Plane. Fenton
arrived at the meeting with his plan, contained in a pizza box, which involved various flood
control, transportation and recreational “improvements.” Hugya told Fenton that a plan of such
size would normally require a partnership of federal, state and local governments and directed
him to John Skiavo at Johnstown Area Regional Industries. Dkt. no. 127, at 66. The meeting
then ended, and the two had no further contact.
Fenton, however, believed that Hugya and Murtha liked his “plan” and wanted to take
credit for it themselves, even if that meant ruining him, discrediting him or driving him to
suicide in the process. He therefore came to see both Murtha and Hugya as conspirators against
him, although there existed no rational basis for such a conclusion.
Almost a year later, in June 1997, Fenton brought his pickup truck to Carmen’s
Wholesale Tires to get an oil change. The mechanic, however, failed to replace the oil, as a
result of which the truck’s engine was destroyed. Carmen’s was insured by Erie Insurance
Company, which assigned Randy Leventry to investigate the claim on June 5. Leventry
authorized the installation of a rebuilt engine.
After Fenton’s truck was returned on June 13, it was discovered that the mechanic who
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