Trial ordered for Pa. woman in boyfriend's slaying

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A northeastern Pennsylvania woman has been ordered to stand trial in the shooting death of her boyfriend two years ago.

A Luzerne County judge on Tuesday upheld criminal homicide and evidence tampering charges against 30-year-old Jessica Alinsky of Shenandoah.

Alinsky was charged after a jury finding of homicide in a rare coroner’s inquest into the September 2011 shooting death of 34-year-old Matthew Gailie of Hazle Township.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Markosky unsuccessfully sought dismissal of the homicide charge, calling the case “at best” one of manslaughter.

Prosecutors said Alinsky gave conflicting accounts of events and alleged that she had disrupted the crime scene.

Markosky said that even if that was true, authorities hadn’t presented enough evidence to prove that his client pulled the trigger.