MILFORD, PA — The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ordered that two bail companies, Seneca Insurance Company and Evergreen National Indemnity Company, must pay $125,000 to Pike County stemming from a murder conviction committed while a defendant was free on bail.

In 2007, Justin Culver, who was accused of burglary and assault, got out on bail. While he was out on bail, he and two co-defendants were alleged to have committed a home invasion and a murder.

In 2009, Culver was convicted of murder, conspiracy and other charges following a trial prosecuted by District Attorney Raymond Tonkin. Culver’s codefendants were also convicted. All received life sentences for their roles in the murder. Following the conviction, Tonkin sought to collect the $125,000 bail that had been posted for Culver on the burglary and assault charges.

Tonkin convinced the Pike County Court of Common Pleas that the bail companies should have to pay the full amount of bail because Culver committed the new crimes while under the bail companies’ supervision.

According to a press release from Tonkin, “It is always a condition of bail to refrain from engaging in criminal activity. In Culver’s case, the bail companies were providing very little monitoring of Culver while he was in the community.”

Tonkin argued that when a bail bondsman posts bail in the amount set by a judge, he is taking on the duty to supervise that person’s compliance with bail conditions.

The court agreed that the state suffered losses because of Culver’s breach of the bail conditions: the murder of a citizen and the cost to the taxpayers for the trials and convictions of the killers.

In an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the two bail companies asked the higher court to overturn the order directing the $125,000 be forfeited to Pike County.

In its decision filed on April 13, 2015, the Pennsylvania Superior Court wrote that the companies took “calculated business risks; they gambled on Culver’s compliance with his bail conditions and lost.”

The bail companies may appeal the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.