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Shickshinny High School holds 60th class reunion

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Investigators charge Ashley residents with operating suspected meth lab

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A dispute over evidence prompted a Luzerne County judge on Thursday to push back the court date of a Hazleton man charged with shooting another man in the back on the day the suspected killer&#8217;s trial was slated to begin, according to court officials.</p><p>A jury, expected to be selected Thursday, was to be tasked with <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/380969/hazleton-man-charged-with-homicide" target="_blank">determining whether Eleazar Yisrael, 30, murdered 52-year-old Samuel Vacante</a> inside the garage of his Drums home in August 2015.</p><p>The panel will now be convened later this year, after Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Vough continued the trial until Dec. 5, according to court records.</p><p>The nearly three-month delay comes a day after Yisrael&#8217;s attorneys, Allyson L. Kacmarski and Mary V. Deady, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/579356/on-eve-of-trial-homicide-suspects-lawyers-allege-prosecutorial-misconduct" target="_blank">argued their defense was hampered because prosecutors failed to disclose evidence</a> in their possession for nearly a year.</p><p>The evidence included a video allegedly showing Yisrael behind the wheel of Vacante&#8217;s vehicle the night Vacante disappeared and a report identifying the source of DNA found on a pair of camouflage cargo pants Yisrael was allegedly seen wearing the same night, the attorneys said Wednesday in a court filing.</p><p>The attorneys argued they were &#8220;extremely prejudiced&#8221; by the late introduction of evidence and urged Vough to prohibit prosecutors from presenting it during trial.</p><p>Responding Thursday, prosecutors denied undermining the defense and placed the blame on Kacmarski and Deady, claiming they were ineffective for &#8220;failing to diligently investigate their client&#8217;s case, or even making the slightest attempt to.&#8221;</p><p>They argue the defense was &#8220;very much aware&#8221; of the evidence and say they should have inspected it sooner.</p><p>&#8220;It is not the job of the Office of District Attorney to hand the defense their case on a silver platter,&#8221; wrote assistant district attorneys Daniel Zola, Justin Richards and Rachael Pugh.</p><p>Vough, court records show, approved the defense&#8217;s request to have the pants excluded from evidence and ordered prosecutors to turn over all remaining evidence in their possession, including any and all videos, within 10 days.</p><p>Vacante was reported missing Aug. 31 by his estranged wife, Lisa Vacante, who police say was in a romantic relationship with Yisrael for two years prior to Vacante&#8217;s death. The pair allegedly lived together for periods at Yisrael&#8217;s West 10th Street residence.</p><p>Their relationship led Samuel Vacante to file for divorce, court documents say.</p><p>State police at the time said Lisa Vacante was not implicated in her estranged husband&#8217;s death.</p><p>Vacante&#8217;s body was found Sept. 6, wrapped in a tent in a wooded area of Penn Forrest Township in Carbon County.</p><p>Officials say he died from a .22-caliber gunshot that severed his spinal cord and ruptured his aorta.</p><p>State police charged Yisrael with Vacante&#8217;s death Sept. 9. They allege he shot Vacante in the back inside his home, tried to clean up the crime scene, drove away in Vacante&#8217;s vehicle with the body stuffed in the trunk, and dumped the body in the woods.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Yisrael_Eleazar_toned-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Yisrael </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_Yisrael_Eleazar_toned-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Yisrael </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Prosecutors deny wrongdoing in wake of Hazleton homicide trial’s delay