Cops: Ex-banker kills wife, son

RICE TWP. – A former township supervisor told authorities he killed his wife and son in their home on Heslop Road Friday morning because he and his wife were having financial and marital problems, Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said.

Charles Joseph Oleski, 62, was charged with two counts of criminal homicide in the shooting deaths of his wife, Maureen, 62, and his 28-year-old son, Christian.

Both victims were shot multiple times, Lt. Robert Bartal of state police at Hazleton said.

After the shooting, Oleski called a friend, Leonard Levanda, who then notified Rice Township police.

Rice Township Police Chief Robert Franks and Wright Township Police Officer Michael Marshal responded to the home just after 10:10 a.m., where they found the bodies of Maureen and her son under a sheet on the kitchen floor.

Oleski was arrested without incident, telling Franks, “I don’t know what I did, I shot my wife and son. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did this. I’m sorry,” according to arrest papers.

Musto Carroll and Bartal said the Oleskis were having financial problems, with Oleski losing his job with PNC Bank on Thursday.

Roland Hildebrand, a family friend who lives nearby on Heslop Road, said he spoke with Oleski around 9 a.m. Friday and asked about installing a sump pump in their basement.

“I called to see if it would be all right to put the sump pump in, and he said they were going to put it off,” Hildebrand said.

Hildebrand said he drove past the Oleski home just before 10 a.m. and nothing seemed unusual. He was home for about 15 minutes when a neighbor called him and asked why police were at the Oleski home.

“I was surprised he was home because he’s usually at work at a bank,” Hildebrand said.

For much of Friday, those living in the rural area drove past and saw yellow police tape surrounding the home and police cruisers in the driveway. Many stopped to ask what had happened, only to express shock and disbelief when told two people were killed in the home.

The killings surprised Franks, as well. Police were never called out to domestic situations at the Oleski home in the past.

Oleski kept quiet, hands folded with his head down, as he was led to his arraignment before District Judge Ronald Swank in Wright Township Friday evening.

Shackled at the ankles and waist, Oleski wore pea green hospital clothes at the arraignment because investigators seized his clothing as evidence.

According to the criminal complaint filed by state police Cpl. Thomas McAndrew, Trooper James Surmick and Luzerne County Detective Chris Lynch:

Oleski told investigators he was having financial and marital problems at home. He knew weeks ago he was losing his job with PNC Bank on Thursday.

About a week ago, Oleski claimed he began having thoughts about killing his wife and son before killing himself.

When he was terminated on Thursday, Oleski planned to go to the employment office. As he was getting dressed, Oleski said he began having “bad feelings.” His wife and son were yelling at him that he should get another job, the criminal complaint says.

Oleski told investigators he knew his problems wouldn’t go away. He grabbed a shotgun from a bedroom closet and a .22-caliber handgun from a desk drawer.

Oleski claimed he charged out of a bedroom and shot his wife with the shotgun as she sat in the living room, and shot his son who was sitting in the dining room, the criminal complaint says.