Double-murder conviction is followed by brother's arrest after courthouse elevator incident
A Pennsylvania jury conviction Wednesday night in a high-profile double-murder case was quickly followed by the arrest of the defendant’s brother after a courthouse elevator incident.
As trial attendees exited the Luzerne County courtroom where 41-year-old Hugo Selenski was convicted of first-degree capital murder, his brother Ronald Thomas Selenski, 34, followed family members of the victims and prosecutors to the elevator, according to the Associated Press, the Citizens’ Voice, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader and WNEP.
An affidavit filed Thursday says Ronald Selenski pointed his hand, in the shape of a gun, at the prosecutor and detective saying, “You, I’m going to get you,” the Citizens’ Voice reports. Arrested, handcuffed and taken away by court deputies.
Charged with disorderly conduct and making terroristic threats, the younger brother was arraigned and released on his own recognizance Thursday after spending the night in the county jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month.
The penalty phase of Hugo Selenski’s trial, during which the jury will decide whether he should get the death penalty or life in prison without parole, begins next week.
Authorities have been seeking to convict Hugo Selenski in the slayings of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett, since 2003, when their bodies, along with at least three other sets of human remains, were dug up in Selenski’s yard.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Charged with perjury along with client, lawyer is taken off murder case over defendant’s objection”
Associated Press: “Prosecution rests in Hugo Selenski trial”
Times Leader: “The long history of Hugo Selenski’s case recalled”
Times Leader: “Hugo Selenski Trial: Lawyers in profile as closing looms”
