A Cambria County judge convicted Dashane White-Ferguson of first-degree murder in the killing of Barry Senior Jr.

The bench verdict is the court's finding on those four counts, and the not-guilty finding on robbery is part of the same judgment. Sentencing is still ahead. The Tribune-Democrat put it on the calendar for Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. WJAC reported prosecutors say he faces life in prison without parole. He tried the case himself, and the judge convicted him anyway.

Cambria County Judge Tamara Bernstein on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, convicted Dashane White-Ferguson of first-degree murder and three other charges in the November 2024 killing of Barry Senior Jr., The Tribune-Democrat reported. The paper said he is 27, from Philadelphia, and represented himself on the second day of a non-jury trial in Ebensburg. Bernstein found him guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, and not guilty of robbery, the paper reported. He is scheduled to be sentenced at 10 a.m. on Nov. 23, the Tribune-Democrat reported. WJAC and FOX8, reporting the same verdict, identified the judge as Tammy Bernstein and said prosecutors say he now faces life in prison without parole, with sentencing in late November. Tamara and Tammy are two spellings of the same judge's first name. Nov. 23 is the date the Tribune-Democrat reported. Late November is how WJAC described it. District Attorney Jessica Aurandt told the Tribune-Democrat, "We are incredibly grateful and thankful for that verdict, especially for the family, who has waited almost two years for some closure in this case."

Senior was 54 and lived in Adams Township, WJAC reported. The Tribune-Democrat reported witness testimony that White-Ferguson stabbed him, possibly with a screwdriver, strangled him, wrapped the body in a vehicle cover, left it along state Route 56 in Lower Yoder Township, the highway known locally as Haws Pike, and set it on fire. State Trooper Troy Faulk, a cellphone investigator, confirmed the phones of both men were near Grandview Cemetery late on Nov. 5, 2024, and that White-Ferguson's phone was near the place the body was found around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 6, the paper reported. The Tribune-Democrat, citing Dr. W. Ashton Ennis of ForensicDx, who performed the autopsy, reported 13 stab wounds to the head and neck and 12 more on the rest of the body, including defensive wounds on the left hand, bruising to the face and a fractured thyroid cartilage. WJAC reported the pathologist told the court Senior was stabbed about 25 times, including 13 wounds to the head and neck, and that the cause of death was multiple sharp-force injuries with strangulation as a contributing factor. WJAC also reported a deputy coroner described the death as exsanguination, meaning massive blood loss. Those are the medical opinions in the trial record. The verdict is what Bernstein entered after she left the bench for about half an hour to review the exhibits, the Tribune-Democrat reported.

The Tribune-Democrat reported State Trooper Matthew Deck encountered White-Ferguson on Nov. 6 along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Lancaster County, trying to abandon Senior's broken-down 2022 BMW M3. DNA testing found Senior's blood in the trunk and a mixture of both men's blood smeared in the back seat, the paper reported. Also on White-Ferguson, according to that testimony: a screwdriver later found to carry a mixture of his DNA, Senior's and two other people's on the shaft, a lighter, the BMW's registration, an insurance card and a credit card in Senior's name. He was detained there on a Philadelphia warrant and arrested for drug possession, the paper reported. Audio from his phone that day had him saying that if police looked in the car he would go to jail, and that he had gotten himself into a mess for being greedy, the Tribune-Democrat reported. WJAC reported a recording in which he said, "I'm going to jail if they tow the car." The Tribune-Democrat reported Trooper Noah Robinson said White-Ferguson gave four accounts of how he had the BMW and four accounts of the blood, including a claim that it came from a dog, and that he described Senior as a relative who had loaned him the car. Senior's mother testified they were not related and that her son would not loan the car to anyone, not even his father, the Tribune-Democrat reported.

An inmate who had been housed with him at Cambria County Prison told a different story, the Tribune-Democrat reported. The inmate testified that White-Ferguson said the two were romantically involved, that White-Ferguson was using Senior for money to buy drugs, and that he attacked Senior when the money ran out. The inmate's account, as the paper reported it, was that White-Ferguson described beating Senior, cutting his throat and setting him on fire, then trying to take the car to a chop shop in Philadelphia until it broke down. WJAC reported witnesses testified the two had arranged to meet for sex and that the meeting turned into a dispute. Those are witness accounts the judge heard. They are not separate convictions. White-Ferguson, speaking for himself, told Bernstein, "To find me guilty with the lack of evidence of cold truth, your honor, would be unbearable," the Tribune-Democrat reported. WJAC reported he argued that no murder weapon was found and that the evidence did not show he meant to kill Senior. WJAC also reported he said he represented himself because his attorneys were incompetent. The judge overruled his objections during Aurandt's closing, the Tribune-Democrat reported, and then convicted him of the four counts and acquitted him of robbery. The sentence has not been imposed. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.