Judge Asked To Toss Statements In Luzerne Co. Double Murder Case

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A man charged in the shooting deaths of a father and son in northeastern Pennsylvania last year is asking a judge to bar prosecutors from using his statements to police.

Attorneys for 32-year-old James Roche filed a motion Tuesday asking a Luzerne County judge to suppress the statements. His co-defendant, 40-year-old Holly Ann Crawford, filed a similar motion in December.

Both are charged in the April deaths of 73-year-old Ronald Evans and 43-year-old Jeffrey Evans in Hunlock Township. Police allege that Roche sought a confrontation after seeing a movie with a character that reminded him of the older victim, with whom Crawford had had a relationship.

Crawford gained international notoriety in 2008 when she pierced kittens' ears and necks and marketed them as "gothic." She was convicted of animal cruelty.