Victor F. Steban, ordered Tuesday to stand trial for the killing of a Penn Township couple, also will be tried on charges related to what police say was the start and finish of his alleged four-day crime spree last month.
Steban, 53, of North Huntingdon waived his right to preliminary hearings for arson, attempted carjacking and multiple firearm violations in connection with charges filed by North Huntingdon police. He is accused of intentionally setting fire to his home on May 15 and threatening two men with a handgun while attempting to steal their pickup truck along Route 30 on May 18 as police were closing in to arrest him.
On Tuesday, Harrison City District Judge Helen Kistler ordered Steban to stand trial on multiple criminal counts including criminal homicide for the shooting and killing of Jacob R. Erdeljac, 40, and his girlfriend, Mara Casale, 27, on May 16. According to testimony by county Det. Randall Gardner, Steban went to the Claridge section of Penn Township and gunned down Erdeljac and Casale when they returned home to Erdeljac’s home from a motorcycle ride.
Testimony indicated Steban told investigators he was angry at Erdeljac, who he blamed for the recent breakup with a girlfriend.
In the latest charges, according to court documents, Steban told investigators after his arrest he set fire to his own home.
Police also charged him with multiple weapons violations because firearms were found in his home.
Steban is a convicted felon and it is illegal for him to own a gun.
He also waived charges of attempted vehicle theft and illegal possession of firearms in connection with his May 18 arrest along Route 30.
North Huntingdon Detective Thomas Harris said, when Steban was attempting to flee police on foot near the Sheetz convenience store on Route 30 at Thompson Lane with a handgun in his hand, “he approached an occupied” 2017 Dodge Ram pickup truck that was stopped at a traffic signal and twice instructed the two men inside to exit.”
Harris said in court documents the two occupants “told him, ‘No,’ ” and refused to get out of the truck.
As police moved closer to Steban, Harris said Steban decided “to walk away,” west on Route 30.
North Huntingdon and state police took Steban into custody a few minutes after the vehicle theft attempt as he walked westbound along the busy highway.
Steban also remains a suspect in a vehicle explosion at 11:45 p.m. May 15, shortly after the arson, when an explosive device damaged a 1967 Chrysler Newport on the 1100 block of Clay Pike, also in North Huntingdon. The explosion remains under investigation by township police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, police said.
Steban is scheduled to appear June 9 before Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour for three separate hearings on multiple criminal charges including attempted homicide for shooting at three occupied houses during the early morning hours of May 16 in Hempfield and Sewickley townships. Those complaints were filed by state police.
One of the victims in that case, according to state troopers, is Dennis “Rooster” Katona, 54, the former national leader of the Pagans motorcycle gang.
“Steban stated he had gone to the residence of Dennis ‘Rooster’ Katona with the intention of killing Rooster. Steban stated he knew the location of Katona’s bedroom and aimed at same,” Trooper James McKenzie wrote in court documents.
Steban’s attorney, Chris Huffman of the public defender’s office, declined comment as he left District Judge Wayne Gongaware’s office in North Huntingdon Wednesday.
Steban is being held in the county prison without bond.
