US serial killer suspected of murdering Brit given death sentence

A US serial killer suspected of killing a man from Somerset in 1981 has been sentenced to death by a Nevada court for his crimes.

Tracy Petrocelli, 67, is thought to have killed Stephen Scane, whose weathered skull was found in Utah 35 years ago.

Petrocelli was convicted of two murders in 1981 but detectives believe he is responsible for killing eight people across three US states. Mr Scane’s case failed to make court due to a lack of evidence.

Petrocelli was given the death sentence in 1985 but this was overturned two years later by an appeal court, which found his rights had been violated ahead of sentencing.

In December 2018, at the time of Mr Scane's inquest, Summit County Police said in a statement: "Petrocelli remains a suspect in the murder of Stephen Scane."

Petrocelli’s executing was re-ordered in May of this year, after rejecting the killers plea for life in prison without parole.

Mr Scane's uncle Derek, speaking from Frome, Somerset, said: "Why should he draw breath when he has committed all these crimes?

"100 per cent he should be executed, for Stephen and for the others."

Somerset carpenter Mr Scane moved from his home in Somerset to Wyoming in 1981.

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Three years later in 1984, Mr Scanes’ skull and collarbone were discovered by hikers in a national forest park in Utah.

The skull showed evidence of multiple gunshot wounds.

The cold case was reopened 14 years ago, when detectives identified Petrocelli as a murder suspect.

He was also convicted of murdering car salesman James Wilson in Reno, Nevada, and his 18-year-old fiancée, Melanie Barker, in Seattle in 1982, receiving the death sentence.

Then, in 2009, Petrocelli pleaded guilty to the murder of surfer Dennis Gibson with a judge sentencing him to 15 years to life in prison.