Attorney for homicide suspect Weihbrecht permitted to inspect truck, scene of fatal crash
Mar. 20—WILKES-BARRE — With no objection from Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney James L. McMonagle, an attorney for homicide suspect Louis Weihbrecht was permitted to visit the scene of a fatal crash and have an expert inspect a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado truck.
Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. on Thursday granted the request by Weihbrecht's attorney, John B. Pike, when McMonagle said the only details that need to be worked out is a date and time with the private owner of the garage where Mark Reginal Svadeba was struck by the Chevrolet truck on Sept. 13, 2024.
Plains Township police and county detectives allege Weihbrecht intentionally struck Svadeba with the truck, running over and dragging him nearly 30 feet. The two men were reportedly in a dispute about a woman.
Pike believes the Chevrolet truck had some type of mechanical defect.
The Chevrolet truck was seized by detectives on Sept. 14, 2024, when Weihbrecht surrendered to an off-duty Wilkes-Barre police detective in the parking lot of Kirby Park.
A second motions hearing is scheduled in June on Pike's pre-trial motion demanding prosecutors turn over evidence, a list of witnesses who have been interviewed and their statements, a request to prohibit Weihbrecth's prior bad acts, a request to preclude prosecutors from calling Svadeba a "victim" during trial, and to dismiss the entire case.
Weihbrecht, 56, of South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, is facing an open count of criminal homicide. His trial is scheduled for September.
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