A man charged federally with murdering a mailman last year is dead.
Eric Kortz had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and died in jail in Butler County on Monday while in U.S. custody awaiting trial in the death of Louis Vignone.
He was 54.
Kortz’s lawyers had previously filed a motion for a detention hearing citing his deteriorating health and asking that he be moved into hospice care.
A hearing had been set for Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Robert Colville canceled it after learning Kortz had died.
Kortz was under indictment in federal court in the Oct. 7, 2021, murder of Vignone, 58, of Moon, who was gunned down in his mail truck while on his route in Collier.
Kortz told police that he thought Vignone had poisoned him and his family with cyanide when they were neighbors in Sheraden for more than three decades. The Vignone family moved to Moon to get away from Kortz, according to a lawsuit filed by Vignone’s widow.
On the day of the murder, postal inspectors said, Kortz blocked Vignone’s truck with his van, climbed out and shot the carrier multiple times. He then drove to the police station in Carnegie and said he’d shot someone.
Kortz had been charged with murder of a U.S. employee along with possession and discharging of a gun during a crime of violence.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
