Local State Senator Caught Up In Murder Investigation
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Married with two children, PA Sen. Tim Solobay -- by all accounts -- is an unlikely man to be caught up in a murder investigation.
But the Washington County public official may have had a liaison with a woman in 2011 at the same time her husband was murdered.
As KDKA-TV reported in August of 2011, James Durbin was found shot in the back of his head in his Morris Township home, while his wife Amy was at work at a local hospital.
The murder has been unsolved for three years, and information about the case was not public.
The documents in this case were sealed by the Washington County Court of Common Pleas until last week when the local paper, the Observer Reporter, asked to see them. At that point, the documents were unsealed because the sealing order had expired.
As the Observer Reporter reported -- and KDKA political editor Jon Delano discovered when he examined the unsealed papers -- sworn affidavits note that Amy Durbin admitted to having affairs at the time of her husband's death, claiming he abused her and that she was planning to leave him.
One document submitted by an assistant district attorney noted that through interviews with Solobay and Amy Durbin, "it was revealed that Amy Durban has been having an ongoing relationship with Timothy Solobay for approximately one year."
Solobay denies that, saying he had a friendship with the Durbins, nothing more.
In a statement to KDKA-TV, Solobay said:
"Several years ago, I was briefly questioned by the state police in the course of their investigation into a death at a Washington County farm where I have hunted for many years. Even though I had no involvement in the death, I cooperated fully, answered all questions, and have heard nothing since about the case."
Sources tell KDKA that Solobay is not currently a suspect in the murder case.
District Attorney Eugene Vittone had no comment on the case except to say state police are still developing evidence.
"At the appropriate point when they've developed evidence that is sufficient to charge someone, we will charge an individual," said Vittone.
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