Murderer convicted in 1992 to be re-sentenced in August

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough said he will re-sentence Todd Tarselli on Aug. 11 for the shooting death of Mark Bunchalk during a robbery of a fast food restaurant in Hazleton 30 years ago.

The move arose based on around how old Tarselli actually was at the time of the crime.

Tarselli, 49, was granted a new sentencing hearing by the Pennsylvania Superior Court in a July 2021 ruling, based on a 2012 United States Supreme Court ruling which declared mandatory sentences of life without parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.

It has been determined Tarselli was 17 when he was accused of fatally shooting Bunchalk, 17, nine times in the back of the head during a robbery at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Jan. 23, 1993.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court had concerns about Tarselli’s age because he was born in South Korea, which calculates ages differently than in the United States. The Superior Court noted Koreans considered a newborn’s age “1” at birth, while in this country a child turns 1 after the first year of life.

Tarselli was originally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in addition to 10 to 20 years in prison for the robbery and five years for illegally possessing a weapon, a .22-caliber rifle.

During a status conference Thursday, Vough said he will re-sentence Tarselli on Aug. 11, allowing Tarselli’s attorney, William J. Watt II to file a sentencing memorandum.

District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce and Assistant District Attorney James L. McMonagle have already filed a sentencing memorandum seeking a life sentence with parole or at minimum 35 years in prison while describing the horrific murder.

Vough ordered a pre-sentencing investigation report to calculate time already served in prison by Tarselli, who is currently housed at the State Correctional Institution at Forest in Forest County.