HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania – In a shocking turn of events, Jerell Adgebesan, a 35-year-old man from Baltimore, Maryland, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the June 25, 2016 murders of three individuals in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The sentence was imposed by United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner, who also sentenced Adgebesan to a consecutive 20-year term of imprisonment on a companion robbery charge.
The investigation into the murders, which lasted six years, revealed that Adgebesan was part of a plot to kill Wendy Chaney, a 39-year-old woman from Hagerstown, Maryland, who was cooperating with state and federal drug investigators. Chaney was one of the three victims found shot and set on fire in a barn on the property of Phillip Matthew Jackson, 36, Mercersburg, PA. Jackson and another victim, Brandon Cole, 47, Fayetteville, PA, were shot once in the head, while Chaney was shot twice, once in the back and one in the back of her neck.
According to the evidence presented at the guilty plea proceeding in June 2022, Adgebesan and his co-defendants, including Kevin Coles and Torey White, learned that Chaney was cooperating with federal authorities and contracted for her to be murdered. Adgebesan and his co-defendant, Kenyatta Corbett, recruited members of a Baltimore-based gang known as the Black Guerilla Family and others from Baltimore to travel to the Jackson property to kill Chaney. The killers were promised $20,000 that was to be in a safe in the barn and any drugs and firearms that they could locate on the Jackson property.
The investigation resulted in the charges of several individuals, including Devin Dickerson, age 31, Hagerstown, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine and is awaiting sentencing; Kenyatta Corbett, age 38, Hagerstown, who pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting sentencing; Michael Buck, age 30, Hagerstown, who pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery and to being an accomplice to the use of a firearm during Hobbs Act robbery and is awaiting sentencing.
Jerell Adgebesan, a 35-year-old man from Baltimore, Maryland, is currently serving a life sentence for his role in the murder of three individuals in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. The sentence was imposed by United States District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner on June 25, 2022. Adgebesan was also sentenced to a consecutive 20-year term of imprisonment on a companion robbery charge.
The investigation into the murders, which lasted six years, revealed that Adgebesan was part of a plot to kill Wendy Chaney, a 39-year-old woman from Hagerstown, Maryland, who was cooperating with state and federal drug investigators. The evidence presented at the guilty plea proceeding in June 2022 established that Adgebesan and his co-defendants learned that Chaney was cooperating with federal authorities and contracted for her to be murdered.
Adgebesan’s conviction was the result of a six-year investigation into the murders that occurred on June 25, 2016, on a property along Welsh Run Road in Mercersburg, Franklin County. His sentence serves as a reminder of the severity of the crimes committed and the need for justice in such cases.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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