[4] In the early hours of the morning on October 13, 1980, two police officers were out on patrol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in an unmarked car.

[5] DeVetsco had worked with Zettlemoyer at a retail store and had been scheduled to testify against him in an upcoming robbery trial in Snyder County.

In May 1980, Zettlemoyer and an accomplice, Kenneth Kipple, had carried out a robbery, in which they had bound a security guard at a RadioShack near Sunbury and had stolen electronic equipment worth thousands of dollars.

Zettlemoyer had kidnapped DeVetsco near Selinsgrove and had driven him to Harrisburg to kill him in order to prevent his testimony.

[10] After spending fourteen years on death row, Zettlemoyer fired his lawyers and dropped his efforts to live.

Lawyers for the Pennsylvania Post-Conviction Defender Organization argued that Zettlemoyer was not mentally competent, however, three psychiatrists testified he was sane.

DeVetsco's mother also argued that Zettlemoyer was mentally ill and was, therefore, not competent to be executed for the murder of her son.