Homicide suspect seeks review by state Supreme Court

Attorneys for Anthony Shaw, accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in Wilkes-Barre Township in 2018, have filed a petition requesting the state Supreme Court to review the case.

Shaw’s attorneys, David W. Lampman II and Jessica Miraglia, are seeking to overturn a Sept. 1 opinion by the state Superior Court that restored crucial evidence Luzerne County prosecutors say they have against Shaw.

Prosecutors were given new life by the Superior Court’s opinion after Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough prohibited the use of three knives, plastic packaging, a notebook with an alleged handwritten note and store receipts from trial.

Vough ruled the evidence found in Shaw’s East Orange, N.J., apartment and vehicle was found without search warrants when police in East Orange responded to his residence on a welfare check, finding him with self-inflicted stab and laceration wounds May 3, 2018.

Shaw, 44, is accused of stabbing to death Cindy Lou Aston, 39, inside her Nicholson Street residence on May 1, 2018. Her body was found by a township police officer May 2, 2018, while conducting a welfare check when she failed to show up at her employment.

Footage from a body camera worn by an East Orange police officer was shown during a June 2019 motion’s hearing before Vough. The footage showed the officer finding a bloody Shaw in a bedroom, blood covered knives and the officer reading and turning pages in a notebook.

Prosecutors say the notebook contained an apology written by Shaw.

The Superior Court ruled investigators through proper legal channels would have discovered the evidence as part of their investigation, known as the “Inevitable discovery doctrine.”

During the motion’s hearing, county Chief Det. Michael Dessoye testified he called East Orange police on May 4, 2018, to inquire about Shaw, and learned Shaw had attempted to take his own life the day prior.

Investigators say they were heavily concentrating on Shaw as the suspect when Aston’s body was found after witnesses placed him at Aston’s residence and surveillance footage from the now closed Kmart on Wilkes-Barre Township Boulevard showed Shaw purchasing knives and socks. Investigators also have surveillance footage of Shaw moving a vehicle near Aston’s residence and purchasing gasoline at a White Haven service facility while wearing a bandage on his hand.

The appeal filed by Lampman and Miraglia is called an “Allowance of Appeal,” which the Supreme Court could accept or deny to review the case.

Vough has issued a gag order prohibiting Shaw’s attorneys and prosecutors from publicly speaking about the case.