This is what women can do...
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Suzanne+Schoff&btnG=Search+News
The Herald
1 September 2004
Woman who lost custody battle found guilty of murder
The Associated Press
YORK, Pa. (AP) - A Baltimore woman was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy Tuesday for having her ex-husband killed after she lost a bitter child-custody dispute.
After two weeks of trial, the jury deliberated for about an hour before reaching the verdict against Suzanne Schoff, 28, in the August 2003 death of auto-repair shop owner Frank A. Schoff III, 27.
Frank Schoff was shot nine times by Terry Wingler Jr., his former close friend and Suzanne Schoff’s former lover. Wingler testified that he went to Schoff’s shop in Delta and gunned him down at the request of Suzanne Schoff and her mother, Lucy Mariner.
Suzanne Schoff, Wingler, 31, and Mariner, 50, are all charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.
Wingler cooperated with prosecutors and is expected to plead guilty to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in return for a sentence of no more than 20 to 40 years. Mariner will be tried separately.
Source was: <http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=12826360&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6>
http://ydr.com/story/main/39119/
Daily Record/Sunday News
Wednesday 1 September 2004
Schoff guilty in murder
Suzanne Schoff will receive a mandatory life sentence in her ex-husband’s death.
By Rick Lee
A jury deliberated slightly more than one hour Tuesday before convicting Suzanne Lucy Schoff of first-degree murder and conspiracy for the Aug. 6, 2003, shooting death of her ex-husband.
Schoff, 28, of Baltimore, remains in York County Prison without bail pending her return to Common Pleas Court on Oct. 15 for sentencing. She will receive a mandatory term of life in prison without parole for the murder conviction and could receive up to 20 to 40 years more for the conspiracy conviction.
Testimony during her 10-day trial established that Frank Schoff III, 27, also of Baltimore, was shot to death in the auto repair shop he owned and operated in Fawn Township. He was killed by Terry A. Wingler Jr., a longtime friend of both Frank and Suzanne Schoff.
Suzanne Schoff was prosecuted under the theory of accomplice and co-conspirator liability for instigating her ex-husband’s murder, First Assistant District Attorney Timothy Barker said.
“I’m happy she finally got what she deserves,” said Nicole Adams, Frank Schoff’s girlfriend. “She got away with everything and the one time she didn’t, she killed him.”
Suzanne Schoff had no reaction to the verdict. After the jury was dismissed, she turned in her chair to face her father, Ray Mariner, and said, “Tell my kids I love them,” and laughed quietly.
Although they never appeared in court, Suzanne Schoff’s children — a son by Frank Schoff and a daughter by Wingler — played key roles in the prosecution’s theory for the murder.
Barker argued to the jury that after the Schoffs separated in 1999, Suzanne Schoff was intent on keeping her son and his father apart.
Trial testimony established that Suzanne Schoff made repeated complaints to Maryland authorities that Frank Schoff was sexually abusing his son.
The claims were determined to range from unsubstantiated to fabricated by the Maryland court system, and Frank Schoff was granted primary custody of his son in July 2003.
Barker contended that Suzanne Schoff and her mother, Lucy Mariner, convinced Wingler that the abuse allegations were true and that “Frank Schoff must die.”
They also led Wingler to believe his daughter could be at risk if Suzanne Schoff decided to disappear with the children to protect her son, or that Suzanne might even take her and her children’s lives, Barker said.
According to Wingler’s testimony, Suzanne Schoff provided a rental car in which he drove to Fawn Township to shoot Frank Schoff, and Mariner provided the bullets.
After the killing, Wingler was to take sole responsibility for the murder, Barker said, because if Suzanne Schoff also was charged, the children could be lost to adoption.
“That was the plan,” Barker said in his closing argument. “Terry Wingler was supposed to take the fall and Suzanne could go on with her life.”
Instead, both children, 6-year-old Frank Schoff IV and his 3-year-old half-sister, remain in the custody of Suzanne Schoff’s brother, Ray Mariner Jr.
Following the verdict, Frank Schoff’s mother, Gertie Dickens, and grandmother, Alice Robinson, echoed the reprise, “Justice has been done.”
Dickens, who sat through the entire trial, said she “wasn’t worried” when the case was sent to the jury.
“They (Barker, senior prosecutor David Cook and Pennsylvania State Trooper Anthony Cotroneo, the lead investigator) covered everything,” she said. “All the evidence was there.”
Adams, who also was a longtime friend of Wingler, said, “I never thought he would do a thing like that” and added she was “happy he finally did the right thing” by testifying for the prosecution.
Wingler, who confessed to investigators shortly after the murder, testified in exchange for a plea agreement to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder with concurrent sentences on the charges. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
Lucy Mariner, 50, of Baltimore, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy and tentatively is scheduled for trial in January. She remains in county prison without bail.
Suzanne Schoff and her attorney, Kenneth Ward, chose not to have the jury consider the lesser charge of third-degree murder in the deliberations.
He said Wingler fulfilled his obligation in his plea arrangement with his court testimony.
He said Wingler may be scheduled to enter his guilty pleas in the coming months but will not be sentenced until after Mariner’s trial.