Subramanyam (Subu) Vedam had been a permanent United States resident since his parents immigrated from India when he was nine months old in 1962. Throughout his youth, he had never been violent and never picked fights with other classmates. He was very close to his family and often visited them in India for Hindu holidays. 

By 1980, Vedam was enrolled at Penn State and was working as a lab technician. During one summer semester, Vedam and his longtime friend Tom Kinser decided to room together. 

On the day of Kinser’s disappearance in December of 1980, Vedam called him asking him for a ride to a neighboring town. Kinser agreed and borrowed his family’s van, which was then returned to its assigned parking spot by the end of the day. Kinser was later reported missing and was not found until September 1981. His body was found in a wooded area outside of State College. The coroner discovered a bullet in Kinser’s skull. 

In March 1982, Vedam was arrested and held on 19 charges unrelated to Kinser’s death. His parents were in Germany, but quickly returned to State College to assist their son with legal guidance. Upon their arrival, Vedam was officially charged with first-degree murder, and all other charges were dropped. He was imprisoned without bail for over a year, with prosecutors portraying him as a “foreigner likely to flee,” despite his lifelong roots in State College.

Even before his trial, media outlets were already biased toward Vedam. Local press coverage portrayed him in biased terms, with suggestions that his Indian heritage made him violent or culturally incompatible. 

The first trial was held in February 1983, in which the prosecution had already expressed that they would pursue the death penalty. The first trial had little evidence, no witnesses, no murder weapon, and no motive. A local teenager testified that he sold Vedam a gun from an antique shop, but no others were able to confirm this information. At the end of the trial, an all-white jury convicted Vedam and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Vedam’s defense team appealed the conviction due to insufficient evidence. The State Superior Court and State Supreme Court overturned the conviction and granted Vedam a new trial. In February 1988, Vedam was tried by the same judge and prosecutor as in the original trial. Like before, evidence was presented about the gun and the events of the day Kinser went missing. With much of the prior evidence ruled impermissible, the prosecution decided to use facts about drug use among teenagers. There was still no motive displayed in front of the jury and the judge. 

For the first time, Vedam was put on the stand to testify. During the three hours, he was repeatedly asked to list all drugs that he had ever tried. He was also asked about his trips to India and his practice of meditating, neither of which was relevant to the case. The judge continued to allow these questions despite multiple objections from the defense, which are not reflected in the court transcript. 

Throughout the investigation, State College police recorded interviews with other suspects. These interviews were not presented to the defense counsel in an effort to free Vedam. At the end of the second trial, Vedam was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  

During his time in the State Correctional Institute at Huntingdon, he has been recognized on many accounts for his volunteer service, including his efforts toward the annual Runathon to benefit incarcerated youth. He has also completed three degrees with magna cum laude honors and a 4.0 GPA. He is the first inmate at the State Prison in 150 years to achieve a graduate degree. 

However, in 2022, documents resurfaced showing that prosecutors had concealed extensive evidence that strongly undercut the state’s case against Vedam. The evidence included an FBI report that shows that the bullet hole in Tom’s skull was too small to have been made by the gun Vedam supposedly had. The full report was turned over to Vedam’s defense team in 2024. 

On August 28, 2025, Judge Jonathan Grine vacated Vedam’s conviction. He found that Vedam had been deprived of due process and a fair trial. With that, Judge Grine ordered a new trial. 

Now, the decision to move forward with a new trial is up to the Centre County District Attorney’s office. The DA’s office has scheduled a pre-trial conference for November, with court documents suggesting a possible December trial start, pending the DA’s decision. If the DA chooses not to retry the case, Vedam will be released after more than 40 years in prison.