Sarah Risch 
Dec. 8, 1992 
Sarah Risch, A Guest At Valley Crest Nursing Home, Plains Township, Formerly 
Of Wilkes-barre, Died Tuesday At Valley Crest.

All Of Us Have A Stake In 
War On Drunken Driving 
(editorial) 
Good News From The People Who Keep Luzerne County's Statistics: The Number Of 
Drunken Driving Arrests So Far This Year Is Significantly Lower Than Last 
Year.

By DIONNE PEEPLES-SALAH; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Wednesday, December 09, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A/5A QUICK WORDS: CARUSO 





WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- As her voice cracked, amid long pauses, a Plains woman
said she ate breakfast early Sunday morning with the man who killed himself in
a crowded department store Monday night. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She assumed his constant complaining about his life was part of temporary
depression, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "He was strange, but nice," the 27-year-old woman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vincent Caruso, 36, went to Sugerman's Monday night and asked a clerk if he
could examine a .38-caliber handgun that was for sale in the sporting goods
department, according to police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caruso then slipped his own bullet into the gun and shot himself in the
chest, investigators said. Caruso was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m. Monday at
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The woman, who didn't want her name used, said she met Caruso for the first
time Saturday night at a Wilkes-Barre bar. She and her friend decided he was
harmless and went to breakfast with him, she said, at Ollie's Family
Restaurant in Edwardsville. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caruso, who the woman said resembled a balding, heftier Paul Simon, began
to complain about his life during breakfast. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He kept saying he was bored with his job, bored with his life ... That he
was a sinner," the woman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He hated his roommates and said he was angry that his wife left him for
another man," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Whenever the woman or her friend suggested he do something that could make
him happy, such as changing jobs, getting a girlfriend or spending time with
his 11-year-old daughter, he said "it is all the same. It's boring." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Then we just changed the subject. We gave up because we didn't know what
to say," the woman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She feels guilty that she didn't say something that would convince him that
his life was worth living, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caruso had worked for about three weeks in the mail room of The Times
Leader, according to Ralph Evans, mail room foreman. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Evans said there is no way employees could have known of Caruso's intent to
kill himself because Caruso, hired about three weeks ago to oil the insert
machine, hardly ever came to work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Many employees who worked in the mail room said they didn't know Caruso,
even by description. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We haven't seen him since last Thursday," said a worker who is in charge
if Evans is absent. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caruso skipped work Monday, the worker said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Caruso had been paroled recently after serving time for robbery at the
State Correctional Institute at Dallas, said Tom Figmik, assistant to the
superintendent.

Store Suicide Victim Complained About Life 36-year-old Vincent Caruso Told Woman He Was `bored' And `a Sinner'