LAWRENCE COUNTY Hearing set in Kos murder trial

The first trial is expected to start Jan. 13.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County prosecutors are gearing up for trials for two men accused of killing a Youngstown girl two years ago, and they need permission to call 17 Mahoning County residents as witnesses.
Matthew Mangino, Lawrence County district attorney, said his office will go to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 6 to ensure that the witnesses will appear at the upcoming trials of Perry S. Ricciardi and David C. Garvey.
Ricciardi and Garvey, both 22 and both of Struthers, are accused in the October 2000 stabbing death of 12-year-old Shannon Leigh Kos of Youngstown.
Mangino said he expects Ricciardi to go to trial Jan. 13 and Garvey in February.
A third man, William Monday, 23, also of Struthers, pleaded guilty to homicide charges earlier this year and was sentenced to life in prison.
Purpose of hearing
Mangino said the hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court is a formality to ensure that all the witnesses appear and that they will be compensated. He has said that trial witnesses are usually paid $5 per day and mileage when they have to appear at trial.
At a hearing earlier this year, Lawrence County prosecutors outlined why each person was being called. Most are expected to testify about statements made by Ricciardi and Garvey before and after Shannon's death.
Garvey and Ricciardi are being held without monetary bond until trial.
Police contend that the men picked up Shannon at a coin- operated laundry near her Midlothian Boulevard home and took her to a secluded section of Mahoning Township, Lawrence County, where she was repeatedly stabbed and her body later burned.
Judge Dominick Motto of Lawrence County Common Pleas Court also recently ruled that prosecutors can use Garvey's clothing, shoes and jewelry as evidence at trial.
Garvey had asked the judge to throw out the evidence, contending it was seized illegally at the Lawrence County Jail after his arrest.
Judge Motto ruled that items taken from the jail are part of the arrest, even if they were taken days after the person was put in jail.
cioffi@vindy.com