William Welsh, 47, was shot and killed on March 17, 1983, outside the Pittsburgh home of his former girlfriend, Carol Stonehouse. Welsh was a retired Pittsburgh police officer who had served about two decades; Stonehouse was also a Pittsburgh police officer. Police say Stonehouse called them that morning and reported she had shot Welsh after he fired at her. Investigators later determined Welsh’s revolver had not been fired. Prosecutors said Stonehouse fired twice from a third-floor back porch; one bullet struck Welsh in the shoulder, traveled downward, severed a major artery, and caused his death.

Stonehouse was charged with murder and her defense emphasized years of alleged abuse, stalking, threats, and violence by Welsh. Neighbors corroborated parts of her account, describing surveillance, shouting, and other harassment. A jury convicted Stonehouse of third-degree murder in September 1983 and she was sentenced to seven to fourteen years. The conviction was later reversed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which found her trial attorney ineffective for failing to present expert testimony about prolonged abuse and to seek jury instructions addressing its cumulative impact.

A second trial was held before a judge in March 1990; expert testimony on the effects of abuse was presented and Judge John W. O’Brien acquitted Stonehouse, finding she reasonably believed she faced imminent danger when she fired. With no standing conviction, Welsh’s death remains recorded as a homicide. Does anyone have recollections of the neighborhood or the events leading up to March 17, 1983?