`super Conference' Needs Adjustments To Serve All Teams 
When The Wyoming Valley West Swimming Team Destroys Scranton Prep, There Is No 
Blood In The Water.

4th Suit Filed Against City's `impact' Team

By JOHN DECKER; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Sunday, January 18, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 4 





HAZLETON- John Ziegler, the intended target of an alleged killing-for-hire
plot, was arrested Friday, Jan. 9, for punching a woman, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His girlfriend, Michelle Viechec, faces drunken driving charges for
crashing her van hours after Ziegler's arrest that night, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Viechec, the estranged wife of the man accused of trying to hire the
assassin, also was hospitalized on Jan. 10 after attempting suicide with a
mixture of drugs and alcohol, said attorney Brett Zankel of Harrisburg. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Zankel, who represents Viechec's estranged husband, Gary, said he received
information about the suicide `attempt from a court order filed Tuesday by
Luzerne County Children and Youth Services after a custody hearing regarding
the couple's two daughters. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is the poster case why some attorneys don't want to be involved in
domestic relations cases," Zankel said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After Ziegler's arrest, he was committed to the Luzerne County Correctional
Facility for lack of $50,000 bail. He allegedly punched Barbara Van Fleet in
the nose at Lenny's LA Cafe on Alter Street, then drove away, according to the
arrest affidavit. Police stopped Ziegler at about 4:30 p.m. He was charged
with simple assault. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Michelle Viechec was arrested about 4 hours later. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Viechec had previously admitted that she had an alcohol problem. She told a
reporter last year that she completed an alcohol treatment program last summer
and had since been sober. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But state police at Hazleton said that, at about 9 p.m. Jan. 9, Viechec
drove her minivan over a curb, struck a fence and landed in a drainage ditch
behind the Ground Round restaurant in the Laurel Mall parking lot. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She was arrested on evidence of driving under the influence, police said.
She was later released. Charges will be filed pending the results of a
blood-alcohol test, state police said Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Michelle and Gary Viechec, who were married in 1984 and split up in
February 1997, declined to speak about the recent incidents. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Their relationship grew more strained on Nov. 3, 1997, when a man called
Michelle and Ziegler at her Hazleton home, police said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The caller, whom police later identified as Sargent Majors, told Michelle
Viechec he had been watching her and her daughters and was coming to their
house. She immediately called police, who caught Majors near the house. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Majors agreed to be wired by police and later recorded the conversation
that led to the solicitation to commit homicide charge filed against Gary
Viechec on Nov. 6. He is free on bail awaiting a preliminary hearing Jan. 29. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before his arrest Gary Viechec, 36, had dealings with Ziegler, 35, of Alter
Street, Hazleton. A district justice found Ziegler guilty of harassi

Double Trouble Follows Couple 
A Hazleton Man Who 
Was Allegedly Targeted For 
Killing, And His Girlfriend 
Each Broke The Law Last 
Weekend, Say Police

Double Trouble Follows Couple A Hazleton Man Who Was Allegedly Targeted For Killing, And His Girlfriend Each Broke The Law Last Weekend, Say Police