Trial for Selenski postponed

He and Paul Weakley were scheduled to be tried on homicide charges Jan. 22.

By DAVID WEISS

WILKES-BARRE – The January trial for homicide suspects Hugo Selenski and Paul Weakley is canceled.

The decision to postpone the trial came Monday after attorneys for the suspects asked for more time to file pre-trial motions.

The motions were initially scheduled to be filed Monday. But last week, the attorneys said they needed more time to review 25,000 pages of investigative documents in the case in order to file adequate motions.

At a brief hearing on the request Monday, a Selenski attorney, John Pike, and a Weakley attorney, Paul Galante, told Judge Chester Muroski another two months would be needed.

District Attorney David Lupas did not object to the request. He said he realized the attorneys have a voluminous amount of paperwork to review.

Muroski granted the request and directed defense attorneys to file their pre-trial motions by Jan. 26.

That decision pushed back other hearings in the case, including the trial, which was initially scheduled on Jan. 22.

Muroski said he will schedule a trial date at a later status conference in the case.

Selenski and Weakley are charged in the deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett.

The two went missing in May 2002 before the pharmacist was to be sentenced in Wyoming County Court on numerous charges, including illegal distribution of drugs and fraud.

Police found their bodies buried behind Selenski's Mount Olivet Road home in Kingston Township when police executed a search warrant in June 2003.

They also found bones from at least three other people and first charged Selenski with using a shotgun to kill suspected drug dealers Adeiye Keiler and Frank James.

Selenski was cleared of killing the men but convicted of burning their bodies.

Selenski attorneys request extension to file motions
By Robert Kalinowski, Staff Writer
11/17/2006
WILKES-BARRE — Hugo Selenski's lawyers are asking for an extension of time to file pre-trial motions in his double murder case, tentatively scheduled to begin in January.

In a motion filed Thursday, the attorneys listed reasons such as: 25,000 pages of discovery to sift through, 230 witness statements to examine and 600 pages of lab reports to review.

Also, Selenski's three attorneys John Pike, Stephen Menn and Michael B. Senape are involved in other homicide cases.

Selenski is scheduled to stand trial for the deaths of Michael J. Kerkowski and Tammy Lynn Fassett, whose bodies were unearthed in his Kingston Township backyard in 2003.

Later Thursday, Judge Chester Muroski said the Commonwealth needs to respond why it thinks the extension should not be granted.

©The Citizens Voice 2006

Hmm... Not good for getting the trial started on time, but considering the delay in getting all the evidence, no wonder an extension is needed.

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