Todd William Bebo is escorted from the Luzerne County Courthouse after a jury convicted him of attempting to kill an former girlfriend in Dallas Township following a three-day trial before Judge David W. Lupas in October.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE — Convicted by a Luzerne County jury on charges he attempted to kill an ex-girlfriend and admitting he provided misleading information about possessing firearms, Todd William Bebo was sentenced Wednesday to spend up to nearly 40 years in state prison.
Judge David W. Lupas handed down a sentence of 14 to 37 years on charges of criminal attempt to commit criminal homicide, possession of an offensive weapon, possessing instruments of crime, illegal possession of a firearm, loitering and prowling at night, in addition to related offenses of terroristic threats and providing statements under the penalty of law related to a firearms relinquishment form.
A jury following a three day trial in October convicted Bebo on the attempted homicide-related offenses after he showed up at the Dallas Township residence of his former girlfriend, Melissa Mallis, on Dec. 9, 2022.
Dallas Township police charged Bebo with attempted homicide after listening to a recorded jailhouse phone call where he told his mother he wanted to kill Mallis.
During the trial, assistant district attorneys Brian Coleman and Julian Truskowski relied on “chapters” of events that began Nov. 11, 2022, at a Plains Township restaurant and bar through Dec. 9, 2022.
Bebo was with Mallis and two others at the Plains Township bar when he became angry that Mallis and her friends left him at the bar to watch their purses and cellular phones. After an argument outside the bar, Mallis and one of her friends returned to her Dakota Drive residence.
Bebo eventually showed up, fired a shot from an AR15 rifle into the air, and initiated a stand-off with police in the Back Mountain and state troopers with the Special Emergency Response Team.
After the Nov. 11, 2022, incident, Mallis obtained a protection-from-abuse order against Bebo, which required him to relinquish all firearms.
Dallas Township police Det. Robert Odgers Jr. testified during the trial he discovered 25 shotgun shells, three loaded AR15 magazines in a gun case, and 30 loaded AR15 magazines in a plastic tote in Mallis’ garage.
Weeks later, Dec. 9, 2022, Bebo believed Mallis was going to attend a comedy show in Wilkes-Barre when surveillance cameras at her residence recorded him in the backyard carrying a sawed-off shotgun, a sledgehammer and a backpack containing duct tape and shotgun shells. When Bebo realized Mallis was home, he turned around and walked away.