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Volunteers are Santa’s helpers for Home Instead’s Be A Santa To A Senior

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Veterans Appreciation Event and Expo held

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/505853/hazleton-homicide-suspect-granted-more-time-to-file-pre-trial-motions" target="_blank">After several delays</a>, a jury has finally been seated in the murder trial of a Hazleton man accused of shooting his lover&#8217;s husband and dumping him in Penn Forest Township in 2015.</p><p>A jury of seven men and five woman, along with four alternates (two male, two female) will hear the case of Eleazar Yisrael, who is accused of fatally shooting Samuel Vacante in the back of Vacante&#8217;s Drums residence in 2015. State police allege Yisrael, 31, of 10th Street, Hazleton, tried to clean up the crime scene, drove away with Vacante&#8217;s body in the victim&#8217;s own car and disposed of the body.</p><p>An autopsy confirmed Vacante died of a <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/380969/hazleton-man-charged-with-homicide" target="_blank">gunshot to his back</a>. Officials say he died from a<a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/579481/judge-postpones-hazleton-mans-homicide-trial-on-slated-start-date" target="_blank"> .22-caliber gunshot that severed his spinal cord</a> and ruptured his aorta. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.</p><p>According to police:</p><p>Vacante&#8217;s estranged wife, Lisa, had reported Vacante and his 2014 Kia Cadenza missing. He was last seen on Aug. 31, 2015. Police found Vacante&#8217;s personal items from the residence, as well bleach-soaked rags in his garage.</p><p>The Kia Cadenza was found on Sept. 2, 2015, in Hazleton with the licence plate removed, keys missing and vehicle identification number blacked out.</p><p>The next day, state police arrested Yisrael after blood evidence was found in the passenger and trunk areas of the car, which were tested and found to be Yisrael&#8217;s. Officers also found a receipt to a Bloomsburg Walmart in the center console of the vehicle. After viewing surveillance video, an unidentified man identified Yisrael and Vacante&#8217;s vehicle.</p><p>Vacante&#8217;s missing items were found in the Berwick home of an acquaintance of Yisrael&#8217;s.</p><p>After tracking Vacante&#8217;s cellphone, police found Vacante&#8217;s body wrapped in a tent in a wooded area of Carbon County.</p><p>According to court documents:</p><p>Yisrael&#8217;s former residence was less than 3,200 feet away from where the remains were discovered.</p><p>Lisa Vacante had a romantic relationship with Yisrael for two years prior to Vacante&#8217;s murder and lived with Yisrael, for periods, at his Hazleton residence. Her relationship with Yisrael caused Vacante to file for divorce.</p><p>A three-month delay in the case was granted by Judge Michael T. Vough after Yisrael&#8217;s attorneys, Allyson L. Kacmarski and Mary V. Deady, argued their defense was hampered because prosecutors failed to disclose evidence in their possession for nearly a year.</p><p>The undisclosed 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. Vough 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.</p><p>The prosecution is expected to call around 40 witnesses. The trial is expected to last until mid-next week.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Yisrael </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_yisreal-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Yisrael </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Eleazar Yisrael is accused of killing Samuel Vacante</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Melanie Mizenko</p><p>mmizenko@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Melanie Mizenko at 570-991-6116 or on Twitter @TL_MMizenko</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Update: Jury seated in homicide trial of Hazleton man