McBee
GOSHEN – A Port Jervis man was convicted Thursday in Orange County Court in the murder of Port Jervis shop owner Josef Kucher. Dennis McBee, 30, was also found guilty of assault, robbery and tampering with physical evidence in the death of the 77-year-old shopkeeper.
District Attorney David Hoovler said he will seek the maximum sentence under the law of 25 years to life.
“I don’t believe that there is a sufficient amount of time that could ever be given to him that would justify what happened in this case or would be sufficient. He will meet his final judgment in another life,” the DA said.
Prosecutors argued that McBee savagely beat the victim, and stole money from the cash register. McBee also tried to conceal bloody pants and boots, which he knew constituted evidence of his having stomped on Kucher.
Following the murder, McBee fled to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he was apprehended.
Kucher had been a Port Jervis shoemaker for 40 years and was the owner of Kucher’s Shoe Repair and Orthopedic on Front Street where the attack took place. He was an Austrian immigrant, military veteran, and a prominent figure in the Port Jervis community.
“Mr. Kucher was known to all in Port Jervis,” said Hoovler. “He was an old world craftsman who did things the right way, for the right reasons, every day of his life.” The DA said he was “somebody all of us could look to as an example in hard work, family and community.”
