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By JIM VAN NOSTRAND; Times Leader Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 22, 1995     Page: 4A

WILKES-BARRE — Jury selection began Tuesday in Luzerne County Court of
Common Pleas for the trial of a Hazle Township man accused of shooting his
neighbor to death.
   
Richard Skitzki, 30, of Stockton No. 6, shot Stacey Marie Gullick in the
face with a .22-caliber automatic rifle on Aug. 25, 1994, police said.
    Skitzki and Gullick, whom neighbors described as good friends, were in
Skitzki’s bedroom at the time, police said. She was found fully clothed.
   
Skitzki told police he met Gullick, 30, at her house five doors away at 8
p.m. Aug. 24. They talked, walked to a field near his home to talk some more,
and then went to the bedroom at the house Skitzki shared with his father,
Raymond, and sister, Rosie.
   
Skitzki initially told police Gullick was shot while the two were “playing
around” with the rifle in his bedroom when it went off accidentally sometime
between 1:15 and 1:30 a.m.
   
He later changed his story, saying he loaded the rifle with the intent of
killing himself, police said.
   
Police testified they believe Skitzki and Gullick were at a party or
get-together earlier in the evening. A test at Hazleton General Hospital
showed Skitzki’s blood-alcohol level as .14 percent. Drivers are considered
legally drunk in Pennsylvania with a blood-alcohol reading of .10 percent or
more. Gullick’s blood-alcohol level has not been made public.
   
Skitzki is charged with one count of criminal homicide, two counts of
aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment. He is lodged in the
Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $100,000 bail.
   
Jury selection is expected to take the rest of the week. Judge Hugh Mundy
told prospective jurors testimony probably will begin Monday.