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Our view: History shows that walls work

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‘Trouble, right here in River City’

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A tearful Linasheri D&#8217;Onofrio entered a no contest plea in the forgery case against her &#8212; but it&#8217;s still unclear if investigators are closer to solving the mysterious death of her son and disappearance of her grandmother.</p><p>D&#8217;Onofrio, 51, appeared before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Monday. While she was awaiting for her case to be heard, D&#8217;Onofrio was obviously distressed, with tears streaming down her face and occasionally sobbing openly.</p><p>With her attorney John Pike by her side, D&#8217;Onofrio entered a plea of no contest on a count of theft by deception in relation to accusations that she stole checks from her neighbor, Ronald Heck, while she was watching his house while he was in a nursing home in 2014.</p><p>Other charges were withdrawn by prosecutors.</p><p>D&#8217;Onofrio first appeared in headlines early last year when the skeletal remains of her disabled adult son, Shain D&#8217;Onofrio, were found by fire crews in the burnt out shell of a shed on her trailer home. There was initially confusion regarding the identity of the body, with D&#8217;Onofrio originally telling police Shain was her brother.</p><p>When asked if any charges were coming in either of these incidents, Assistant District Attorney Tony Ross simply said investigation was ongoing.</p><p><strong>Parole set for Tuesday </strong></p><p>Despite the Plains Township woman&#8217;s plea of no contest &#8212; which means she does not admit guilt, but says she cannot overcome the evidence mounted by prosecutors &#8212; she repeatedly told Sklarosky she didn&#8217;t steal the checks. Sklarosky had to repeatedly ask D&#8217;Onofrio if she truly wanted to enter the no contest plea, and she said over and over that she did.</p><p>Prosecutors accused D&#8217;Onofrio of writing the checks out to her elderly grandmother, Mary Mikulak, amounting to a total of nearly $3,000. Sklarosky ordered D&#8217;Onofrio pay the full amount back to Heck in restitution.</p><p>Sklarosky immediately sentenced D&#8217;Onofrio to spend between nine and 18 months in prison, but she will be paroled Tuesday morning, having spent more than nine months in prison since her arrest last April. D&#8217;Onofrio indicated that she had a few friends and relatives that she would be able to stay with while she is on parole.</p><p>What&#8217;s unclear now is the standing of two mysterious stories connected to D&#8217;Onofrio. Her grandmother, Mikulak, has been missing for years, and would be over 100 years old by now. Investigators haven&#8217;t been able to track down any information related to Mikulak, but she&#8217;s presumed dead.</p><p>D&#8217;Onofrio was originally set to have a bail reduction hearing on Wednesday of this week, but with the plea negating it, Sklarosky cancelled the hearing.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A wheelchair is seen among the pile of debris outside a Plains Township trailer home in February following investigation into a fire in a nearby shed. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_TTL030118shed.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>A wheelchair is seen among the pile of debris outside a Plains Township trailer home in February following investigation into a fire in a nearby shed. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Woman questioned in shed-body case pleads no contest in forgery case