Wvw, Central Columbia Split In Boys, Girls Meets

4 Named To Regional All-american Team 
Wvc Field Hockey Standouts Receive More Honors

By CECE TODD; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, December 23, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE- The grieving sister of James Donnelly refuses to believe
there isn't more to his heroin-related death and the fatal shooting of his
longtime girlfriend, Doreen Kozick. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think there was a hit on my brother and Doreen found out," Donnelly's
sister, Joanne Donnelly Roebuck, 31, said. "I think her death was a hit too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Someone wanted to shut up Doreen." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Donnelly, 36, of Wapwallopen, died Oct. 1 from a combination of heroin and
other drugs and alcohol. The mother of his children, Doreen Kozick, believed
someone injected Donnelly with the lethal dose of heroin and she vowed to
prove her suspicions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kozick, 38, was shot to death Dec. 11 on a Philadelphia street corner
notorious for drugs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "What was she trying to do in Philadelphia? I don't know," Roebuck said.
"But I think there's a lot more to it than anyone is saying." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of Altamonte, Fla., Donnelly's sister was in Luzerne County on Friday to
retrieve some of his personal items from the Wapwallopen home he shared with
Doreen Kozick for 14 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On her way out of town, she stopped at Wilkes-Barre police for an update on
the investigation into her brother's death. Roebuck said she was told the case
is closed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "If somebody shot my brother up, you can't close the case. Now, Doreen's
dead and the case is closed," Roebuck said. "Why? How can they close my
brother's case?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But on Monday, Public Safety Director William McGlynn says the case is not
closed, in part because Luzerne County Coroner George Hudock could not decide
if the death was accidental, homicide or suicide. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "When something like that is undetermined, the case is never closed,"
McGlynn said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "At the present time, the Police Department does not have any hard evidence
that it was a homicide. But we have not ruled that out at this point." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McGlynn, who is aware of Roebuck's suspicions, said he doesn't know why she
thinks the case is closed. Capt. Robert Mitchell, who is investigating the
case, is on vacation and could not be reached for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Roebuck couldn't be reached for comment Monday, but last week was convinced
police weren't doing enough. She said her family might even offer a reward for
information. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Roebuck is suspicious because of information Kozick shared with her before
she died. From Kozick, she learned that her brother had been dealing marijuana
with a partner. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That information seemed to jibe with details provided by other relatives:
the next-door-neighbor grandmother who saw lots of people going in and out of
James Donnelly's home, a sister's account of how James Donnelly purchased a
large quantity of marijuana in Florida to bring back to Pennsylvania. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After James Donnelly cut his partner out of the operation, his truck was
bombed, his sister said. Kozick had also mentioned the incident to The Times
Leader; she said Donnelly's truck was "burned." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 State Police at Shickshinny, who would have investigated if the truck had
been damaged in Wapwallopen, do not know of any truck bombing or burning, a
trooper said Friday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kozick told Roebuck someone put a bomb in her brother's truck and blew it
up one week before he died. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After his death, Kozick talked with people who were with him at the time,
including family friend John Butz, 27, of Shickshinny. Butz said "other
people" injected him and Donnelly with heroin so they could steal their money. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kozick said she reported this information to Wilkes-Barre police. She took
Butz and another witness to police for questioning. She was determined to
prove Donnelly's death was a homicide- and even offered to make a buy for
police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I believe Doreen knew a lot about what happened and she wanted to take
matters into her own hands," Roebuck said. "I feel that Doreen knew more about
that than anyone else and her life was taken because of what she knew. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Doreen always said, `Joanne, don't worry. I know who they are and I'm
going to get them.' " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Instead, someone got Doreen. Kozick was shot twice in her left side as she
sat in the passenger side of a car driven by Jason Chamberlain, 21, of Newport
Township. Chamberlain has declined to comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Philadelphia police said Kozick was trying to buy drugs, but her motivation
for doing so is not known. Kozick readily admitted to smoking marijuana, and
in 1990, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Donnelly had troubles with the law too, including DUIs and gun charges. He
smoked marijuana, but his sister doesn't think he did heroin. Kozick had
insisted that Donnelly had never shot heroin before. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He loved smoking his reefer and drinking and being wild. He loved to drink
and party and get crazy," Roebuck said. "He loved the atmosphere of the bar." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She believes that police didn't take his death seriously because of his
lifestyle. Kozick had also said that no one seemed to care about how James
Donnelly "the rebel" died. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To those people, his sister points out that James Donnelly was his mother's
only son. He was the father of two little girls. He was the love that Kozick
couldn't forget. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I'm a recovering addict," his sister said, "and it would be a lot easier
for me to accept that my brother was an addict and that he died as an addict." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "But," she said in a calm, low voice, "there is more to this." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Roebuck knows firsthand how dangerous the addicted world can be. For 15
years, she did cocaine and other drugs. She prostituted herself for a while,
was raped and became pregnant. She put the baby up for adoption. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Jan. 22, she will have been drug-free for six months, having found the
help she needed in the support group Narcotics Anonymous. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She wants addicts here to know there is another way to live. She wants them
to realize a reality that she and her brother and Kozick failed to see: the
entire process of seeking, buying and using drugs is risky. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You have to be careful. You have to know who you're talking to and who
you're dealing with," Roebuck said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She planned to visit the graves of her brother and Kozick before leaving
Luzerne County. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I pray that they're together, that their spirits are joined wherever it is
that we go when we leave this earth," she said, "wherever that is." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/CLARK VAN ORDEN &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joanne Donnelly Roebuck believes her brother's heroin-related death was
more than an accidental overdose. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Woman Sees Conspiracy In Drug Deaths 
Sister Of Recently 
Deceased Wapwallopen 
Man Believes His Death 
Was `a Hit,' And That 
Subsequent Death Of His 
Girlfriend Was Likewise

Woman Sees Conspiracy In Drug Deaths Sister Of Recently Deceased Wapwallopen Man Believes His Death Was `a Hit,' And That Subsequent Death Of His Girlfriend Was Likewise