Scranton woman charged in fatal stabbing seeks to suppress statements to police

Jun. 28—SCRANTON — A Scranton woman awaiting trial for the fatal stabbing of her fiancé wants a Lackawanna County judge to suppress her statements to city police on the night he died.

Judge Andy Jarbola heard testimony from two Scranton police officers Tuesday about a series of statements Eileen Dougherty, 41, made both before and after she was formally taken into custody for the killing of George Shencavitz on March 3, 2021.

Dougherty is accused of stabbing Shencavitz, 31, multiple times during an argument that police said began inside their Delaware Street home before continuing outside, where the wounded victim made a frantic call to 911 to plead for help.

Investigators said Dougherty cut herself to bolster a claim she acted in self-defense.

Her trial on criminal homicide and other charges is scheduled to begin Nov. 14.

Tuesday's hearing centered on a request by defense attorney Joseph D'Andrea in pretrial motions to suppress Dougherty's statements to police the night of the stabbing, which he maintains were involuntary and should be barred.

The attorney argued Dougherty did not receive her Miranda warnings before speaking to officers prior to being taken into custody and said the statements she made afterward to city detectives were coerced.

Under questioning by District Attorney Mark Powell, Detective Christian Gowarty testified Dougherty was not a suspect and portrayed herself as the victim when he initially spoke to her about the Delaware Street incident at Geisinger Community Medical Center, where she was taken for treatment of her injuries.

Her status changed and she became a suspect when he received more information, including listening to the call Shencavitz made to 911, the detective said.

She was then taken into custody and transported to police headquarters, where Gowarty said she was given her Miranda warnings before he and another detective questioned her for about three hours.

Under cross-examination by D'Andrea, Gowarty acknowledged their questioning was aggressive. He testified the detectives challenged Dougherty's answers when they didn't match up with what investigators found at the scene of the stabbing.

Officer Vincent Priorielli, who accompanied Dougherty from Delaware Avenue to GCMC, testified she made statements in the ambulance that were captured by his bodycam, but he did not question her. She was not in custody, either in the ambulance or after her arrival at the hospital, he said.

"I was under the impression Ms. Dougherty was the victim," the officer said.

In the pretrial motions, D'Andrea also argued the commonwealth failed at Dougherty's preliminary hearing in April 2021, to establish a case for charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder and false report to law enforcement against the defendant. He asked the court to dismiss the charges.

Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132