A Lancaster County jury convicted the third of four defendants in the 2016 home-invasion killing of Dennis Pitch at his Salisbury Township home.

The jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday before finding 46-year-old Kristopher Smith of Narvon guilty of killing Pitch following a four-day trial in Lancaster County Court. The verdict was returned around 3:30 p.m.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman presented evidence and testimony throughout that Smith and three other men targeted Pitch’s home on Timothy Drive for a robbery after hearing the victim might be in possession of a large sum of cash.

“Word got around to the wrong people and one of them was Kristopher Smith,” Fetterman said during his closing argument while pointing at the defendant. “The truth is a light bulb went on in [Smith’s] head: an easy score.”

Smith and Brandon Bills, who testified at trial, lived in the Narvon area near the victim, but Smith was the connecting piece in conspiring with two Delaware County men who drove to Lancaster County to commit the crime, the jury decided. Smith was in constant contact with Michael Baker and Christopher Lyles, shown in cell phone data analytics revealed through testimony, the night leading up to the murder. 

Baker and Lyles, both of Folcroft, were previously found guilty of second-degree murder and related offenses. Bills agreed to testify in every trial for the homicide charge against him to be dropped; he still faces accusations of burglary, robbery, and conspiracy. He is presumed innocent.

Smith was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts each of robbery, burglary, and conspiracy. He faces a mandatory life sentence when President Judge David Ashworth orders it after a pre-sentence investigation.

On the night of Dec. 2, 2016, Baker, Lyles, and Smith went into the home while Bills stayed at the car. The victim was fatally shot in the head and torso. Upon returning to the vehicle, Smith told Bills, “It didn’t go as planned.”

The victim’s family, friends, and coworkers became concerned when he didn’t show for work and found him dead on Dec. 4, 2016. Pennsylvania State Police filed charges on April 23, 2018.

Evidence presented by Fetterman at trial included:

- Testimony from co-defendant Bills, who was with the group before and after the invasion and remained at the car

- Cell phone and surveillance evidence that placed the group in the Narvon area at the time of the murder

-Testimony from the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office, which determined the cause of death multiple gunshot wounds to the body and manner homicide

-Video evidence of Smith’s car traveling and parking at a church by the victim’s home and at a gas station where Smith can be seen leaving and returning on the night of the murder

“[Pitch] died surrounded by violence and horror,” Fetterman said to the jury while wrapping up his closing argument. “He was alive one moment and dead the next. And he was alone. He isn’t alone in the courtroom. You are with him today. The verdicts are guilty, see that justice is done.”

Assistant District Attorney Tiffanie Camarota assisted in the prosecution.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jonathan Potoka filed charges, testified, and attended the entirety of trial.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.