Witness Testifies In 20-Year-Old Drowning Case

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A key witness was in court Friday testifying after a jury decided the drowning death of a woman 20 years ago was not an accident.

In court Friday, 35-year-old Jamie Darlington testified he saw Jon Lang drown his wife in their Patterson Township pool back in 1993.

Darlington was 16 years old at the time, and his testimony was enough for a Beaver County district judge to order Lang to stand trial in the death of Debbie Lang.

Darlington testified he snorted cocaine and drank mixed drinks and beer at a cookout at the Lang home and was aware of the couple arguing frequently.

From an upstairs window, Darlington said he saw Jon Lang push his wife into the pool and keep her submerged with a pool scraper and watched her struggle under water.

When Jon Lang looked up, he says he ducked because he was scared and that when Lang came back inside he told Darlington, "you didn't hear anything and you didn't see nothing," according to Darlington's testimony.

The next day Darlington discovered Debbie Lang's body in the pool and alerted Jon Lang.

When police arrived, Darlington said Lang's demeanor was "nonchalant."

Darlington testified that he never told anyone what he saw until this year "to clear his conscience," because of the birth of his son.

But defense attorney William Difinderfer, during an intense cross examination, implied Darlington came up with the story to get a deal to lower his jail time for burglaries in California and Pennsylvania.

Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh denies there was any deal for Darlington's testimony.

When the defense attorney asked Darlington why he didn't take action sooner, the witness replied, "I was 16. I was scared. I didn't want to be involved."

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