A Bucks County man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting his fiancée outside her West Conshohocken house only minutes after she broke up with him.
On May 18, prosecutors claimed Michael Dutkiewicz, 27, of Warrington, and Alyssa Wiest, 25, were out at a pub with his family. About 25 minutes after they returned to her home in West Conshohocken, doorbell footage shows her bringing his suitcase out to the driveway. Prosecutors claimed Wiest had just ended their 14-month relationship.
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She went back inside and up to her bedroom. Then, according to prosecutors, Dutkiewicz took her gun from the TV console, searched on his phone for “How to load and shoot a revolver,” and followed her to her bedroom.
He fired two rounds as she rushed down the stairs, then three more as she exited the front door.
Medical examiner Ian Hood testified earlier this week that Wiest had been shot four times in the back. One of those shots went straight through her spine, crippling her before ripping into her heart and killing her in seconds. Hood said Wiest fell and was shot in the head, but the wound was just a graze.
Following the incident, officials claimed Dutkiewicz went to his family’s home in North Wildwood and hid the gun, which was eventually retrieved with his and his parents’ cooperation.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Dutkiewicz’s actions before, during, and after shooting and killing Wiest demonstrate that it was “willful, deliberate, and premeditated”—key aspects of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life term in prison.
Tim Woodward, Dutkiewicz’s lawyer, contended that his client was caught off guard by the breakup, telling the jury that drink, along with the shock of rejection, grief, loss, and misery, can cause you to lose your mind.
He stated that this does not excuse what Dutkiewicz did, but he advocated for third-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 to 40 years in jail.
Following a brief deliberation on Thursday, the jury found Dutkiewicz guilty of first-degree murder.
Remembering Alyssa Wiest
Alyssa was a microbiologist at GSK, and in her memory, the family established the Alyssa Rose STEM Foundation and Scholarship Fund to support women in STEM careers while also raising awareness about domestic violence. Kurt Wiest, Alyssa’s father, described his daughter as a superstar who impacted many lives.
“It changed her life. Her education in the STEM field changed her life, and likewise, we want to change the lives of others just like her,” he said.
District Attorney Steele announced the verdict on National Domestic Violence Awareness Day.
“It’s such a dangerous time during a breakup, and we have a lot of resources in our community for people, and I just hope that everybody is conscious of the dangers and takes things to protect themselves in these situations,” he said.
Dutkiewicz remained emotionless as he was carried away to fulfill a mandatory life sentence without parole.
