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Lancaster County Coroner: Body in Pennsylvania creek that of missing man

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Jury selection concluded Tuesday in the trial of a city mother accused of telling her kids to &#8220;die for something special&#8221; moments before she allegedly tried to kill them in a murder-suicide attempt.</p><p>Melissa Ann Scholl, 33, attempted to asphyxiate herself and her two children, then ages 5 and 7, in the parking lot of the Williams Bus Line on Blackman Street in December 2015 by stringing a garden hose from the car&#8217;s exhaust pipe into a window, prosecutors say.</p><p>A bystander came upon the running car, removed the hose and called 911, authorities report.</p><p>A jury to hear the attempted homicide case was selected late Tuesday afternoon and will be sworn in Wednesday morning before opening statements. Jury selection was expected to begin Monday, but a pre-trial motion made by prosecutors delayed the start of the process to Tuesday morning.</p><p>The motion, approved by Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas, will allow jurors to see the video of Scholl&#8217;s son&#8217;s account of the incident.</p><p>The case has received additional attention due to friction between defense attorney Larry Kansky and prosecutor Sam Sanguedolce. The former accused the latter of violating a gag order in the case. Kansky also accused prosecutors of mishandling, losing or tampering with evidence.</p><p>Judge Lupas denied motions that sought to dismiss the case based on Kansky&#8217;s allegations.</p><p>Scholl has been jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on $500,000 bail since her arrest Dec. 9, 2015.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Melissa Ann Scholl, center, arrives at the Luzerne County Courthouse for jury selection in her attempted homicide trial. She is accused of trying to asphyxiate herself and her children, then ages 5 and 7, in 2015. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL061317scholl-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Melissa Ann Scholl, center, arrives at the Luzerne County Courthouse for jury selection in her attempted homicide trial. She is accused of trying to asphyxiate herself and her children, then ages 5 and 7, in 2015. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </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>

Jury selected in Melissa Ann Scholl’s attempted homicide trial