Times Leader 07-31-2013

timesleader . com WILKES-BARRE, P A WEDNESDAY , JUL Y 31, 2013 50¢ Ju dg e sa ys PSU ofci al s mu st stand tr ial NATION & WORLD, 4A TASTE, 1C How about a helping of herbs? CORONER’S INQUEST Man’s death a ho mici de , inques t fnds Jury impli cate s Jess ica Alins ki in the 2011 death of her boyfriend Matthew Ryan Gailie SHEENADELAZIO [email protected] WILKES-BARRE — In a rare corone r’s inquest p ro ceeding in c ou nt y court, a Luzerne County jury ruled Tue sday that a man’s death was a homicide and implicated his girlfriend in the death. The six-member jury delibe rated for a half an hour late Tuesday before making a ruling that Matthew Ry an Gailie’s Sept. 2, 2011, death was a homicide and that his girlfriend, Jessica Alinski, is responsible. Gailie died of a single gunshot wound to the face. “All the jury heard was evidence from one side of the case,” Gary Marchalk, an attorney who represents Alinski said. “I can’t say I’m surprised.” Alinski, who was present for the ent ire proce eding, said his client has maintained her innocence from the beginning, and that he and Alinski will deal with what happens next — possibl e criminal charges — in “due course.” “Her version (of what happened) is not the same as (we) heard in court,” Marchalk, of Tamaqua, said . The Distr ict Attorney ’s O ffice will make a determination on whether criminal charges will be filed against Alinski.AssistantDistrict Attorney Dan Zola presented the case to the jury. If a decis ion is made to file charges, she could face first- or third-degree murder, or involuntary or voluntary manslaughter. Acting Coron er Will iam Lisman said he will change Gailie’ s manner of deat h from undetermined to homicide on Gailie’s death certificate. Lisman presided over the two-day proceeding, during which investigators said Alinski, 29, told different versions of Gailie’s death. Those versio ns inclu ded a versio n where Alinski was on the second floor of the cou- ple’s Eagle Rock, home when she heard a pop and went downstairs to find Gailie laying on the floor. Anothe r version put Alinski in the room when Gailie pulled the trigger. Alinski tol d the 911 dispat cher the two had an argument, and Gailie shot himself in See INQUEST | 12A 60-year employee recalls‘Mr. Scranton’ Lou Mastro’s ‘temporary’ gig as groundskeeper for prominent family became much more ANDREW M. SEDER [email protected] WAVERLY TWP . — The death Sunday of Wil liam Warren Scranton Jr. brought sadness to many who crossed paths with the former Pennsylva nia gov ernor , con- gress man, presi denti al candi- date and ambassado r to the Uni ted Na tions. But for one Lackawanna County man, the death brings an end to a 60- yea r employ er-employ ee relationship. In 1953, Lou Mastro was a 24-year-old U.S. Army veteran who had just returne d stat e- side after serving in the con- flict in Korea. Scranton was 36 and employed at the Scranton- Lackawanna Trust Co. in the city that bore his family’s name. Scranton needed a caretaker for his Glenburn Townshi p homest ead; Mastro neede d a job. Mas tr o, now 84 and still liv ing in his own family’ s homest ead along Route 632 in Waverly Township, said he accepted the position begrudg- ingly , expect ing not to like it very much and not to keep it for too long. But he found wor king for the Scrantons to be a pleasant surprise. Devoted, caring man “I found out right away what kind of a man he was. He was just so kind, always askin g you how you wer e,” Mastro recalled Wednesday, only days after his friend and boss suc- cumbe d to a cere bral hemor- rhage at a retirement community in Montecito, Calif., where he lived wit h Mary , his wife of 71 years. Scranton was 96. See MASTRO | 10A View from River and Market is optimisti c Hotel Sterling demo could change more than just the landscape JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES [email protected] WILKES-BARRE — Ali Kazimi’s arrival at wor k was memorable Tuesday becau se the seven-s to- ry Hotel Sterli ng next door was almost entirely demolished. “It was strange. You can see the eagles on the Market Street Bridge from our property. We have a river- front view,” said Kazimi, the third- o pe ned by the o nc e b us tl ing Sterling in 1927. Kazimi looks forwar d to losing that view to new development on the 4-acre Sterling parcel. City offi- cials condemned and demolis hed the former hotel and plan to seize the cleared lot from its nonprofit owner , Cit yV est, so the site can be marketed and sold to a private developer. d he lo l th former Lowe’s bar and restaurant next door, which now houses apart- ments and his expanded showroom of Oriental rugs and other flooring products. He als o owns anot her build- ing on the block at the corner of West Mark et and North Franklin that w as rec en t ly vac at ed by First National Community Bank’ s re loca ti on to Public Square , and he’s seeki See STEVENS | 12A PETE G.WILCOX|THE TIMES LEADER Justice Correale Stevens is sworn in Tuesday as a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice by Chief Justice Ronald Castille at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. Looking on is Stevens’ wife, Louise. The people’ s judge StevenssworninasstateSupremeCourtjustice Colleagues heap accolades on the Sug arloaf T wp. jurist STEVE MOCARSKY [email protected] WI LKES-BARRE — Standing before a cadre of judges represen ting every level of the state judicial system and hundreds of family members, friends and colleagues overflo w- ing fr om t he r ot unda of the Luzerne County Courthouse, Correale F. Steve ns on Tuesday took his oath of of fice as the n ew est member of t he state’s highest court. Superior Court Judge Jack A. P an e lla, who serv ed as master of cer - emonies, defined the occa- sion as “a grea t day for Corre ale Stevens and his family” as well as a “grea t day for Luzerne Count y , the bench and bars of this commonwealth.” “Soo n- to-be Justice Stevens insisted that this ceremony be here in this courthouse in this county. That shows you the char- acter of our new Supreme Court Justice,” Panella said. Stevens, 66, of Sugar loaf Townshi p, was nominated last month by Gov. Tom Corbett to fill a sta te Supre me Court seat vacat ed by Joan Orie Melvin, who resigned May 1 after her conviction on charges she used govern- ment employ ees to hel p her poli tica l campaigns. Mel vin is appe alin g her convictions. Stevens was confirmed for the post June 30 by a 50-0 state Senate vote. His appointment is to fill a term that expires Jan. 1, 2016. Patrick J. Solano, senior adv isor to former Gov . Tom Ridge and ot her state lea ders and a longtime Republican Party leader , told the audience he has been associated with Stevens sinc e the beginning of the judge’s public service. He recounted Stevens’ rise thr ough the judicial system, from Hazlet on as city solicitor to a four- term state repr esentative to Luzerne County district at torney . He not ed tha t Stevens was elected to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, securing both major party nomina- tions in 1991 and, aft er his electi on to the state Superior Court in 1997, won a retent ion vote by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in 2007. But Solano said he con- siders Stevens’ appoint - ment to the state Supreme Court the ultimate honor that Stevens could bring to his hometown and Luzerne County. “It makes all of us extremely proud.” Sol ano sai d he’ s a ls o proud Stevens decided to take his oath of of fice in Luzerne County. “I’m even m or e proud of the fact that he decided to move it from the senior center in Hazlet on,” Solano joked again. Solano was master of ceremonies when Stevens took his oath of office as a Superior Court judg e

Times Leader 07-31-2013

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