Regina Brunner-Holmes

by Sue Ann Rybak

The Philadelphia County District Attorney’s Office has dropped capital murder charges against the man suspected of killing Regina Brunner-Holmes, 85, in her East Mt. Airy home a year ago.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax said the capital charges were dropped because of a “significant mental health history together with [the victim’s] family input.”

Brunner-Holmes, a longtime employee of the Chestnut Hill Local, was found in her home beaten, stabbed and with her throat slashed after she failed to show up for work on June 29, 2015.

Four days later, on July 4, police arrested LeRoy Wilson, 38, of Philadelphia, a neighborhood handyman, in Norristown after homicide detectives discovered substantial evidence linking him to the crime, including the victim’s laptop and surveillance footage of Wilson using her ATM card.

Police said they believed Wilson, who was doing work for Brunner-Holmes, decided to kill her after she caught him attempting to steal something.

According to police, Wilson had been arrested multiple times for violent crimes in both Florida and Philadelphia.

Although the District Attorney’s Office will not seek the death penalty, Wilson will be charged with murder and seven other criminal acts, including robbery with intent to inflict serious bodily injury, identity theft, receiving stolen property and possession of an instrument of crime.

Court documents indicate that a pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 4 in the case. Wilson currently is being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility at 7901 State Road in Philadelphia.