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John Stone arrives at District Judge John Hasay’s office in Shickshinny .

CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER

SHICKSHINNY – Homicide suspect John Stone had been in a relationship with 37-year-old Catherine Tabit, and the two remained friends who visited each other.
But early in the morning of Oct. 24, Tabit asked Stone to take her home after the two were at Stone’s North Canal Street home in Shickshinny, state Trooper Christopher Wegrzynowicz testified Wednesday,
Wegrzynowicz said the two then argued and Stone, 58, grabbed a hatchet, struck the Kingston woman a number of times and killed her.
After four witnesses testified at a 45-minute preliminary hearing Wednesday, District Judge John Hasay ruled prosecutors established enough evidence for a case and forwarded an open count of criminal homicide to Luzerne County Court.
“There was pushing and shoving … and then (Stone) grabbed a metal object,” Wegrzynowicz said Stone told him in an interview shortly after the incident. “He said he hit her on the head more than one time, and there was a lot of blood.”
Wegrzynowicz said Stone told him he tossed the object – what he believed to be either a pipe or hammer – over an embankment near his home.
Stone then intended on killing himself, Wegrzynowicz said, by jumping into the Susquehanna River. But got out, put his clothes in the dryer and went to a neighbor’s home.
“He said he wanted to end his life, or thought about it,” Wegrzynowicz said. “He was upset with what happened with Catherine.”
“He wasn’t acting like himself,” testified Stone’s neighbor, David Beach, who said he has known Stone, whom he calls “Roger,” for more than 35 years. “He said he thinks he killed Cathy.”
Beach said Stone, who was represented by attorney William Ruzzo, didn’t say anything about what exactly happened. But he said Stone asked him to accompany him to his house.
“I said no, and said to call 911,” Beach said.
State police Trooper Stephen Polishan testified Wednesday that he prepared two search warrants – one for Stone’s property and one for Stone’s personal belongings.
Polishan said that when he walked into the North Canal Street home, he saw Tabit’s body on the kitchen floor and a large pool of blood around her head.
A number of Tabit’s friends and family, who attended the hearing, became emotional upon hearing the description of the murder scene.
Polishan said Tabit had deep lacerations on both her hands and that a 13-inch hatchet with a rubber handle was found on an embankment near Stone’s home with blood, hair and skin tissue on it.
“This was a savage, tragic and brutal killing,” Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino told Hasay.
Ferentino, who prosecuted the case with fellow ADA Rebecca Reimiller, said Stone admitted to a neighbor he believed he had killed Tabit and that in an interview with police admitted he hit Tabit more than once.
“He intentionally picked up a hatchet and struck her in a vital part of the body … ultimately causing her death,” Ferentino said, which is grounds alone for a first-degree murder conviction.
Ruzzo said there was no testimony about where exactly Tabit’s wounds were and Stone only thought or believed he might have killed Tabit.
“Why did he do this?” a Tabit family member said while leaving Hasay’s office Wednesday.
Stone was returned to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, where he is held without bail.