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WILKES-BARRE — The saga continued Wednesday over whether attempted homicide charges should be dismissed against a city mother accused of trying to kill herself and her two young children, with prosecutors failing to dispute the latest claim of lost or mishandled evidence.
Melissa Ann Scholl, 33, of Blackman Street, faces the charges after prosecutors say she tried to filter exhaust fumes into her vehicle as she and her children sat parked in the Williams Bus Line parking lot in Wilkes-Barre Township on Dec. 9, 2015. She allegedly told the children to “die for something special.”
Scholl’s attorney, Larry Kansky, has filed two motions in the last month seeking to have the charges thrown out on claims Scholl was denied the right to a fair trial because prosecutors lost, destroyed or mishandled key evidence in the case, including the garden hoses recovered from the scene, Scholl’s vehicle, bedding, and a pink suitcase.
The latter two items at issue were revealed in Kansky’s latest motion, filed Monday in Luzerne County Court.
In a response filed Wednesday, prosecutors said Kansky failed to show the relevance of the suitcase or how it would prove Scholl wasn’t guilty of attempted homicide, but they don’t dispute Kansky’s claim it was never logged into evidence. Photographs of the suitcase, however, have been turned over well in advance of trial, they say.
“The evidence which is the subject of (Scholl’s) motion was not only disclosed to the defense, but was the property of the defendant, put in place by her,” First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce wrote. “It is difficult to ascertain the (fair trial) violation alleged unless it is defense’s contention that by waving a suitcase before a jury, (Scholl) must necessarily be acquitted.”
Prosecutors, who have denied wrongdoing regarding the hoses, conceded that Scholl’s vehicle was scrapped by Act Truck and Trailer. The car’s destruction is now the subject of a state police investigation. A state police official did not immediately return a message Wednesday seeking information on the status of the probe.
It was unclear whether the suitcase was destroyed along with the car. A gag order in place by Judge David W. Lupas prevents prosecutors and Kansky from discussing the case in the media.
Prosecutors denied Kansky’s claims that Scholl was only trying to kill herself. Evidence, they said, will prove she drove to the parking lot, fastened and the hose between the exhaust and a window, and belted her “helpless” children in the backseat before telling them “it was the last time she would kiss them.”
Scholl said she was going to kill herself in a text message sent to her mother at the time she and the children were in the car, prosecutors said.
“Going to kill myself,” one text from Scholl read.
“I can’t do it alone no more,” read another.
Scholl’s mother, meanwhile, begged her to tell her where they were, but Scholl refused, according to prosecutors. Kansky claimed earlier this week that Scholl’s mother was on her way to pick up the children, then ages 5 and 7. The packed suitcase backed the claim, he said.
Lupas is expected to issue a ruling on the motions at a later date.