NEW CASTLE 16 to face subpoenas in Kos slaying trial

The mother of a man already convicted in the killing will be called as a prosecution witness.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County prosecutors are seeking authority to subpoena 16 Ohio residents as witnesses in the upcoming trials of two men accused of killing 12-year-old Shannon Leigh Kos of Youngstown.
Papers filed in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court ask that a judge grant certificates, paperwork needed when out-of-state witnesses must be called to testify. A hearing on the request will be Tuesday before Judge Dominick Motto of Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.
Matthew Mangino, Lawrence County district attorney, said these certificates are needed to ensure the witnesses will appear at trial and outline how much they will be paid. Witnesses appearing at criminal proceedings often get a $5 per-day fee and mileage, he said.
Mother of convicted man
The list includes friends of the defendants and the mother of another man accused in the killing who has already pleaded guilty to homicide charges.
William Monday, 23, of Struthers was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and abuse of a corpse in April.
His mother, Gloria, is on the district attorney's witness list.
Mangino would not discuss specific reasons for calling various witnesses.
"All of them have some information they could provide that would be helpful in this case," he said.
Among the list of 16 is Christopher Thompson of Poland, who testified at the preliminary hearing that the three men accused in Shannon's murder often talked about wanting to kidnap and rape a woman.
Thompson testified that he often hung out with Monday and Perry Ricciardi, 22, and David Garvey, 21, also of Struthers, but had a falling out with the men shortly before the murder.
Police said Ricciardi, Garvey and Monday picked up Shannon at a coin-operated laundry near her Midlothian Boulevard home on Oct. 8 and took her to an abandoned rail bed in Lawrence County, where she was stabbed multiple times and her body burned.
Monday was sent to state prison after his sentencing.
Trial date
The other two men are scheduled to go to trial the week of Aug. 12.
Ricciardi's attorney, Dennis A. Elisco, however, said that is unlikely. Elisco said he plans to file more paperwork asking that his client's statements to police be barred from trial.
A judge denied that same request earlier this month, but Elisco said he is permitted to enter it again.