UPDATE Oct. 2, 2025 @ 3:10 p.m.: This story was updated to include comment from Subu Vedam's niece.
The Centre County District Attorney's office announced Thursday that it will not retry Subramanyam "Subu" Vedam, the State College man who had been convicted of first-degree murder and has been in prison for more than 40 years and who will now be released.
In late August, the Centre County Court of Common Pleas overturned Vedam's conviction. Judge Jonathan Grine ruled the state had suppressed evidence in Vedam's previous trials.
District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said he believes forensic evidence still supports the conclusion that Thomas Kinser was killed by a .25-caliber round, the same caliber of an antique handgun Vedam had recently purchased at the time.
"With witnesses lost and evidence no longer part of the record, it would be very difficult to proceed," Cantorna said.
Cantorna said because Vedam has spent so much time in prison and doesn't seem to pose a public safety hazard, his office decided to drop the case and allow Vedam to be released. He is currently being held at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon.
Cantorna still does not believe Vedam is innocent. Vedam’s niece, Zoë Miller-Vedam, pushes back on that idea, pointing to the judge’s findings that Vedam was convicted based on incomplete evidence.
“What happened to my uncle was a disgrace to fairness and justice in the judicial system, and it shouldn't be minimized," Miller-Vedam said.
Vedam is now 64-years-old. His niece, Miller-Vedam, sayid he’s been a constant presence in her life through letters and phone calls, even though she was born after his incarceration.
“And so the idea that we finally get to be together on the outside and continue to share our lives together fully is what I've dreamed of my whole life," Miller-Vedam said.
"We’re grateful that District Attorney Cantorna has made this momentous decision,” said Vedam’s sister, Saraswathi Vedam in an emailed press release. “Our family has spent more than four decades living with the anguish over all that we lost when Subu — our cherished son, brother, and uncle — was wrongfully vilified and banished to prison for a crime he didn’t commit."
There is still no definitive answer as to who killed Thomas Kinser. Saraswathi Vedam said she hopes prosecutors will continue the search.
Vedam's legal team could not go through all of the legal files in this case until 2022 when the Centre County District Attorney's office unsealed the evidence. Those records revealed former DA Ray Gricar had concealed an FBI report measuring the size of the bullet hole in Kinser's skull.
It's not yet clear when Vedam will be released.
