Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A Delevan man has been found guilty of strangling his elderly neighbor to death a year ago. 43-year-old Melvin Stephenson was on trial for killing 80-year-old Wilbur Norton inside his Delevan Terrace Apartment last December. After six days of testimony, the jury deliberated for nearly two days before returning the guilty verdict. Stevenson facings a sentence of 25 years to life when he’s sentenced on January 31. District Attorney Lori Rieman credits the “outstanding job performed by members of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department, as well as various members of the Delevan/Yorkshire community in securing the conviction” on second-degree murder, manslaughter and robbery charges.

The man charged with killing an elderly Delevan man in December has pleaded not guilty. Melvin Stephenson is charged with second degree murder in connection to the death of 80-year-old Wilbur Norton. A Meals on Wheels delivery person discovered Norton's body inside his home at the Delevan Terrace Apartments. Stephenson is currently serving time for felony DWI in Chautauqua County. When that sentence is up at the end of March, he will be transferred to the Cattaraugus County Jail for a bail hearing in this case.

A man has been indicted on charges that he murdered an elderly man in his Delevan Terrace apartment in December. 42-year-old Melvin Stephenson is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 80-year-old Wilbur Norton. Stephenson is also charged with first-degree manslaughter, burglary and robbery. He's being held in Attica Prison. He's scheduled for arraignment on March 1. Norton's body was discovered by a Meals on Wheels volunteer on December 1. Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb says Stephenson, who lives in the same apartment building, became a person of interest shortly after an autopsy revealed that Norton's death was a homicide. He was picked up on a parole violation and was in custody during the investigation into Norton's death.

Cattaraugus County officially has its first female district attorney. Machias native Lori Rieman took the oath of office this afternoon in Ellicottville. Rieman was first assistant district attorney for eight years under outgoing DA Ed Sharkey, who she beat by a 2 to 1 margin in November's election. One of the cases she'll tackle in her new job involves the death of 80-year-old Wilbur Norton of Delevan, who was killed in his apartment last month. An arrest has not been made yet.