One of three defendants charged with murdering a confidential informant contends a charge of conspiracy to commit homicide should be dismissed because evidence shows he tried to back out of committing the crime.
Kevin Weeks, 26, of Scranton, is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide and several other offenses in connection with the April 20, 2018, death of Nina Gatto inside her Scranton apartment. Prosecutors say Weeks and his co-defendants, Cornelius Mapson, 34, and Melinda Palermo, 39, both of Jenkins Twp., conspired to kill Gatto because she was a confidential informant who was going to testify against Mapson in a drug case.
In a pretrial motion, Weeks’ attorney, public defender Donna DeVita, argues there is not enough evidence to support the conspiracy charge because Weeks was not the person who opened the door to allow Mapson access to Gatto’s home.
Prosecutors allege Weeks and Palermo arrived at Gatto’s home first. Palermo let Mapson in through a back door. Mapson then grabbed Gatto and, with Weeks’ and Palermos’ help, stuck a sock down her throat and placed a bag over her head, causing her to suffocate.
In her motion, DeVita sites a prior court ruling that says if a defendant abandons his or her role in a conspiracy before a crime is committed, his or her action can be used as a defense to the charge. DeVita says testimony at Weeks’ preliminary hearing shows Palermo said Weeks did not open the door to let Mapson in, so she did.
“The defendant renunciated or abandoned the conspiracy when he did not open the door for Mapson to enter the house. ... If Mapson did not enter the house, he would have no way of killing Nina Gatto,” DeVita says in the motion.
DeVita also challenges the homicide and attempted homicide charges, arguing evidence shows Mapson alone is responsible for Gatto’s death.
DeVita also asks a judge to order Weeks be tried separately from Mapson and Palermo and that the trial be transferred to another county because pretrial publicity tainted the jury pool.
In seeking a separate trial, DeVita said Weeks’ defense would be unfairly hampered because, at prosecutors’ request, Mapson’s trial for an underlying drug deal that police said led him to kill Gatto has been combined with the homicide trial. She says Weeks had no involvement in the drug deal. Allowing that evidence about Mapson could confuse the jury and prejudice the panel against him.
Lackawanna County Judge James Gibbons is scheduled to hear arguments on the motions Wednesday. The trial is set to begin Jan. 6. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mapson, but not Weeks or Palermo.
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