GUILTY PA - Joshua Rose, 21, Luzerne, 24 Aug 2016

Police said three people took a man suffering from a possible heroin overdose from a home in Scranton to Susquehanna County rather than to a hospital.

En route, at least one of the people strangled Joshua Rose, 21, of Luzerne, with a pair of jumper cables, police believe, then dumped the body in a remote area of Hop Bottom.
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Preston Layfield, 19, of Scranton, and Tyler Mirabelli, 22, of Clarks Summit were arrested Monday on charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy. They said nothing as state troopers escorted them from the Dunmore barracks prior to their arraignment before Magisterial District Judge John Pesota at the Lackawanna County Courthouse.
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Pennsylvania State Police say Troopers from the Frackville barracks arrested Amanda Wayda just after midnight August 30th.

Two other suspects, 19 year old Preston Layfield and Tyler Mirabelli are currently being held on assault and conspiracy charges for allegedly using jumper cables to strangle 21-year old Joshua Rose of Luzerne Borough in Luzerne County last week.

The case began as a missing person investigation.

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A Lackawanna County district judge ruled Friday that there was enough evidence to try Preston Layfield, 19; Tyler Mirabelli, 22; and Amanda Wayda, 20, on first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault and abuse of a corpse charges.

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Amanda Wayda pushed the plastic bag down on her friend’s head and held her hand over his mouth.

Joshua Rose of Luzerne tried to raise his arm and gurgled. Wayda, of Shickshinny, asked for a cellphone charging cord to strangle him, but it wasn’t enough.

“Amanda said, ‘No, that’s too small,’” Preston Layfield, of Scranton, testified Friday. One of three defendants charged in the murder of the 21-year-old victim, Layfield said he fished out a set of jumper cables and Wayda looped them around Rose’s neck.

“Pull,” she said.

The details revealed during Layfield’s testimony in Friday’s 6½-hour long preliminary hearing painted a disturbing picture of cold-blooded murder.

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Defense attorneys for the others charged — Wayda, 20, and Mirabelli, 22 — sought inconsistencies in Layfield’s story and, at one point, out-and-out accused the 19-year-old as a liar. Wayda’s attorney, Jim Elliott, sparred with prosecutors in tense exchanges after testimony showed Layfield had earlier told state troopers a different story.

Layfield’s attorney, Paul Ackourey, acknowledged his client’s credibility will be scrutinized but noted Layfield didn’t minimize his role in the Aug. 25 murder while on the stand Friday. They are discussing a plea deal with the district attorney’s office, though “there’s nothing firmly reached at this point,” he said.

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At a hearing Friday, Lackawanna County Judge Andy Jarbola arraigned Wayda, 20, of Shickshinny, and Mirabelli, 22, of Clarks Summit, and set a trial date of Sept. 11. Both entered pleas of not guilty.

Layfield, of Scranton, waived his right to an arraignment, Chief Deputy District Attorney Mariclare Hayes said. At a preliminary hearing last month, he testified against his two co-defendants, accusing them of orchestrating Rose’s killing.

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With the parents and other family members of victim Joshua Rose filling several rows in the courtroom, the shackled defendants shuffled in one after another and admitted their guilt — Preston Layfield, 23, Scranton, to third-degree murder and Tyler Mirabelli, 23, of Clarks Summit, and Amanda Wayda, 21, of Shickshinny, each to third-degree murder as an accomplice.

In exchange for their pleas, other charges against the defendants including first-degree murder, aggravated assault and abuse of corpse will be dropped.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

From February:

https://www.indianagazette.com/news/police-courts/three-ordered-to-trial-in-mans-strangulation-death,50018797/



http://citizensvoice.com/news/3-face-trial-in-strangulation-death-of-luzerne-man-1.2150596

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Tyler Mirabelli was the driver of the truck. He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison.

Preston Layfield is the one who strangled Rose with the jumper cables, he also received 20 to 40 years.

Amanda Wayda was sentenced to 15 to 40 years. Wayda was Rose's ex-girlfriend.

Rose's family places most of the blame with Amanda. They say she had the power to get Rose help but never did.

"I think it may take a while for her to take ownership of what she's actually done. And I think it's going to take a rude awakening, maybe, going to state prison, for her to realize and own up to her actions in the whole thing. Maybe down the road, we can meet again and maybe get a sincere apology," said Joshua's mother Mary Rose Pope.

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“This has to be one of the most bizarre set of facts I’ve ever seen,” Judge Andy Jarbola said. “It’s just mind-boggling.”

Layfield strangled Rose with a set of Mirabelli’s jumper cables. According to the police who charged the three, Wayda put a plastic bag over Rose’s head while encouraging Layfield to pull tight on the cables. Wayda’s defense disputed that and have pointed to the fact investigators never found the plastic bag.

When they stopped to get gas on the drive to dump Rose’s body, someone put sunglasses and a hat on the unresponsive man.

“It’s like a scene out of ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’ the movie,” Jarbola said. “Why?”

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