PA - David Gombert, 27, fatally shot, McAdoo, 31 Oct 2016 *Arrest*

Eric M. Mumaw announced on the internet that he wanted to kill David Gombert less than two hours before the latter ended up dead in November 2016 in front of Mumaw’s Kline Township residence, a state police trooper testified Friday at the defendant’s preliminary hearing.

“I will kill him,” is the message Mumaw texted on his cellphone on the morning of Nov. 1, 2016, shortly before Gombert, 27, of Hazle Township, came to his 34 James St. residence, Trooper Eric Schaeffer testified.

Click to expand...

After a five-hour preliminary hearing, Magisterial District Judge Stephen J. Bayer ruled prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to support all charges against Mumaw, 29, of McAdoo Heights, and ordered them held for court.

Those charges included first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, all of which prosecutors successfully asked Bayer to add before the hearing. The other charges against Mumaw include third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, prohibited possession of offensive weapon, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and two counts each of possessing instrument of crime and aggravated assault.

Click to expand...

A state police trooper testified Wednesday that a Kline Township man charged with fatally shooting a Luzerne County man in November 2016 told him the gun went off after each of them had a hand on it.

“He told me there was a struggle for the gun,” Trooper Norbert Brennan said in a pre-trial hearing for Eric M. Mumaw, 30, of McAdoo Heights. “It was like we were hugging. Then the gun went off,” is what Brennan said Mumaw told him.

Wearing a prison jumpsuit, Mumaw sat through the hearing before Judge Charles M. Miller, who will decide whether there is enough evidence against him to send the case to trial.

Click to expand...

Eric M. Mumaw, who prosecutors allege murdered a man in November 2016 in Kline Township, will go on trial in September for his alleged crimes, a Schuylkill County judge decided Tuesday.

Jury selection in the trial of Mumaw, 31, of Freeland, formerly of McAdoo Heights, will start Sept. 17, Judge Charles M. Miller ruled. If convicted, Mumaw could be sent to prison for life.

Click to expand...