![\"Marchello](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/62bbbe1e-bf71-4ea1-b515-18239083ebd4.jpeg\" "\\"Marchello")
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Marchello D. Woodard, left, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger, right, on July 2, 2025. Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz is seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Seelinger at a trial that started in Erie County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
GREG WOHLFORD\/ERIE TIMES-NEWS<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n
Kevin J. Seelinger’s fellow Pennsylvania state parole agent and partner testified as a prosecution witness at Seelinger’s murder trial in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas.<\/p>\n
But the testimony of the partner, Aaron Osborne, appeared in several respects to support the defense’s theory of the case – that Seelinger fatally shot parolee Marchello D. Woodard in self-defense as Woodard drove away and tried to flee a compliance check with Seelinger holding onto his car’s driver’s side door.<\/p>\n
“I see him clinging to the outside of the vehicle with the vehicle in motion,” Osborne said on the stand on Oct. 8. “Then I heard, ‘Bang. Bang. Bang.'”<\/p>\n
Seelinger, Osborne also said, “was affixed to the outside of a moving vehicle.” Osborne said he heard Seelinger, Woodard’s parole agent, tell Woodard, “Put it in park,” three times before Woodard started to drive away as Seelinger was holding onto the car.<\/p>\n
Osborne took the stand on the fourth day of testimony in Seelinger’s trial as the Erie County District Attorney’s Office neared the end of the presentation of its case.<\/p>\n
District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz and her team were expected to close out their case-in-chief as early as Oct. 9. The defense was then expected to present its case into next week before the jury and Erie County Judge John J. Trucilla.<\/p>\n
Lack of video evidence affects case<\/p>\n
Osborne’s testimony provided the most detailed eyewitness account of the fatal shooting, which occurred in the 400 block of East 27th Street in Erie about 9:45 p.m. on July 2, 2025.<\/p>\n
Woodard was parked across the street from his girlfriend’s house when Osborne and Seelinger approached his car during the compliance check, according to the prosecution and the defense.<\/p>\n
The other prosecution witnesses testified that they heard shots but did not see the entire encounter.<\/p>\n
The case lacks video evidence. State parole agents were not outfitted with body cameras at the time of the shooting. Pennsylvania State Police, which investigated the shooting, were unable to obtain neighbors’ surveillance video that captured the entire incident, according to testimony.<\/p>\n
Seelinger, 36, shot Woodard, 43, three times. One shot entered Woodard’s back, striking his lungs and aorta, according to the autopsy.<\/p>\n
Seelinger’s lawyers are arguing that he shot Woodard because, according to the defense, Woodard’s car was dragging him and he feared death or serious bodily injury. Prosecutors are contending that Woodard attempted to drive away because Seelinger was already firing at him.<\/p>\n
Hirz is seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Seelinger, who she contends intended to kill Woodard. She has cited Pennsylvania law that allows intent to be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the body.<\/p>\n
Osborne testified that he saw the entire encounter unfold.<\/p>\n
“I just kind of stood there, thinking, \u2018Oh my God, what happened?'” he said.<\/p>\n
Prosecution challenges Osborne, its own witness<\/p>\n
Though Osborne was a prosecution witness, the District Attorney’s Office raised questions about his credibility.<\/p>\n
Chief Deputy District Attorney Steven Liboski, who questioned Osborne, highlighted that Seelinger’s lead defense attorney, Chad Vilushis, also represented Osborne.<\/p>\n
The representation ended several weeks ago. It included Vilushis’ presence when Osborne voluntarily gave a statement to state police after the shooting, Osborne testified. Vilushis represented Osborne and represents Seelinger through a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police, according to the defense.<\/p>\n
On cross-examination, Osborne agreed with Vilushis that Vilushis never told him what to tell state police. Osborne said he had spoken to prosecutors leading up to the trial, when Vilushis no longer represented him. Osborne agreed that Vilushis’ final words to him as his lawyer were, “Tell the truth.”<\/p>\n
Also on cross-examination, Osborne testified that he believed Seelinger acted in self-defense because he feared “death or serious bodily injury” if Woodard kept driving away with him holding onto Woodard’s car.<\/p>\n
\u2018He’s going to flee. Something is going on here.’<\/p>\n
Osborne’s testimony aligned with another aspect of the defense’s case – that Woodard wanted to flee because, according to the defense, he had cocaine in his car and in his system in violation of his parole in a cocaine and firearms case. Woodard’s parole was to expire in a little over two weeks, according to testimony and court records.<\/p>\n
Police found 26.4 grams of cocaine in Woodard’s shorts and $1,500 in cash following a search of his clothes and car. An autopsy and toxicology tests showed Woodard had a lethal amount of cocaine in his system as well as other drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n
Osborne said Woodard was “acting strange” during the compliance check, including not speaking.<\/p>\n
“He’s going to flee,” Osborne testified about what he thought Woodard was going to do. “Something is going on. He’s in violation of his parole.”<\/p>\n
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@usatodayco.com or 814-870-1813.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: ‘Clinging to the outside of vehicle.’ Seelinger’s partner testifies<\/p>\n
Reporting by Ed Palattella, Erie Times-News \/ Erie Times-News<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 5:09 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marchello D. Woodard, left, was shot and killed by Pennsylvania state parole agent Kevin J. Seelinger, right, on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-303318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}