GUILTY PA - Barney, 73, & Jeffrey Evans, 43, murdered, Hunlock Township, 21 April 2014

They claimed to have been blitzed when they confessed to murder during state police questioning, but there is no indication the statements Holly Crawford and her boyfriend James Roche gave state police were anything other than voluntary, a county judge ruled Friday.

Noting that Crawford told troopers during her initial interview that she had nothing to drink and that Roche showed no outward signs of intoxication, Judge Fred A Pierantoni III on Friday ruled a jury will be allowed to hear the Hunlock Township couple confess to killing Ronald Evans, 73, and his son Jeffrey Evans, 43, who were shot to death at their house at 71 Sunset Lake Road in Hunlock Township last April...

State police say Roche, 32, was jealous because 40-year-old Crawford — the “gothic kittens” woman convicted of animal cruelty for piercing kittens’ ears and necks and docking their tails — had an ongoing sexual relationship with Ronald Evans.

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In one recording, Roche can be heard telling state police Cpl. Christopher King and another trooper that he and Crawford drove to the home of 73-year-old Ronald Evans, where, using a .22 caliber rifle, he shot and killed both the elder Evans and his 43-year-old son...

Roche said in the recording that he did not intend to kill the men. He merely wanted to fight Ronald Evans — who he said was interfering in his life for some time — but got the gun and began shooting when Evans brandished a pistol. He said he shot Jeffrey Evans out of fear that he, too, was armed.

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Holly Ann Crawford, 40, was scheduled to go trial on homicide charges in April, but presiding Luzerne County Judge Fred A. Pierantoni III signed an order Monday postponing trial until Sept. 14.

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The investigation began with Crawford’s mother calling state police on April 23, 2014, to report Crawford and Roche had stolen her credit card and car with plans to flee to Philadelphia. She also told troopers her granddaughter was concerned for the Evanses’ safety after hearing Crawford say she had shot both men in the head and “it was just like shooting a deer.”

Troopers arrived at 71 Sunset Lake Road in Hunlock Township to find Ronald Evans lying dead on the back porch and Jeffrey Evans dead in a hallway. Both men were surrounded by .22-caliber shell casings. A broken trigger mechanism was near Ronald Evans’ body...

uring questioning, Crawford initially denied knowing Ronald Evans, then later admitted she had gone to his home with Roche the night of April 21, 2014. In one telling, she drove around while Roche went to the door, but in another she admitted to going to a sliding door to “lure” Ronald Evans out “like a decoy, you know, like a duck,” according to troopers...

Jurors were not told of Crawford’s previous animal cruelty conviction for peddling “gothic kittens” that had pierced ears and necks as well as docked tails.

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Jurors in Luzerne County deliberated for more than 15 hours before announcing they had found 40-year-old Holly Ann Crawford guilty of two counts of criminal homicide and two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal homicide.

“Justice was served for my son. My only son,” said a weeping Mary Ellen Evans, mother of Jeffrey Evans.

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One day after James Edward Roche admitted in open court to killing two Hunlock Township men in 2014, a Luzerne County jury rejected his claims of self defense.

Roche, 33, of Sweet Valley, was convicted Friday of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide in the April 21, 2014, fatal shootings of Ronald “Barney” Evans, 73, and his 43-year-old son Jeffrey Evans.

Jurors delivered their verdict after three days of testimony and less than three hours of deliberation.

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