SCRANTON — Testimony in Ryan Taylor’s homicide trial Wednesday focused on a Scranton couple who witnessed victim Danee Mower plunge into the Lackawanna River.
Ruth Catalano said she and her late husband, Salvatore, initially thought the two people — one dressed in a red shirt, the other in black — they saw tussling on the riverbank near West Olive street on Feb. 28, 2017, were fooling around. They were stunned when they saw the person in red kneeling over the other person on the ground. He then reached down and flipped the person into water.
“He nonchalantly walked away, like nothing happened,” she testified under questioning by Lackawanna County Deputy District Attorney Cathy Tully. “We didn’t know what to do. It was shocking.”
Salvatore Catalano described a similar scene when he testified at Taylor’s preliminary hearing in July 2017. Catalano died in September 2017,but prosecutors were permitted to read his testimony into the trial record.
Neither of the Catalanos could identify Taylor, who is on trial for first- and third-degree murder, as Mower’s assailant. Their description of the man as wearing a red shirt proved crucial to identifying Taylor as the suspect. Taylor, dressed in a red hoodie, was the only person in the area at the time wearing red, they said.
Taylor, 26, denies he is the person that pushed Mower, his attorney, Matthew Comeford said in his opening statement Tuesday. He said Taylor contends he suffered a seizure while he was with Mower on the riverbank and awoke to find her gone. An autopsy determined she died from drowning and hypothermia.
On Wednesday, Comerford repeatedly noted police never took a written statement from Ruth or Salvatore Catalano. He also pointed out a discrepancy between the Catalanos’ version of events and statements Taylor allegedly made in a confession to police.
Police said Taylor, who denies he confessed, said he pushed Mower into the river from a railroad bridge, which is about 11 feet above the water. Both Catalanos said the confrontation took place on level area on the riverbank a few feet above the river. Comerford also noted Taylor was wearing a hat when police questioned him at the scene. Ruth Catalano said Mower’s assailant did not have a hat on.
In other testimony Wednesday, Scranton Police Lt. Marty Crofton said the river was running high and fast that day, but Mower landed in a shallow area near the riverbank that had no current. She was found face down in the water. He did not know the depth of the water, but it was about waist high to chest high on firefighters who retrieved Mower.
The trial concluded around 1:30 p.m. due to weather conditions. It’s scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. today before Judge Andy Jarbola. Witnesses scheduled to testify include the firefighter who retrieved Mower and Dr. Gary Ross, who conducted the autopsy.
Contact the writer:
tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137;
@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter