Wednesday, August 18, 2010

47 Year Old Onley, Virginia Man On Trial For Murder Of Camp Counselor In 1991

A trial is underway for a 47-year-old Virginia man long-suspected by police of raping and killing a Poconos camp counselor nearly 20 years ago.

Jeffrey Plishka of Onley, Va., and the son of internationally-known Metropolitan Opera bass Paul Plishka is charged in the sexual assault and murder of 24-year-old Laura Ronning, a St. Petersburg, Fla., woman who was working Camp Cayuga in Wayne County when she was killed in 1991. Testimony in the trial started Monday in Wayne County Court in Honesdale.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case that stymied them for nearly two decades, but they say new DNA testing procedures enabled them to link blood on a gun taken from Plishka's home in 1991 to Ronning. At the time, Plishka lived on a farm in Wayne County near the camp where Ronning worked. His opera-singing father was born in neighboring Lackawanna County in Old Forge.

Ronning disappeared in July 1991 after setting out on her day off to hike at Tanners Falls not far from Camp Cayuga, a 350-acre facility that caters to kids between 5 and 15 from New York City and Philadelphia. When Ronning failed to return to camp that night, state police initiated a search. Her body was found the next morning. Police say Plishka participated in the search and made bizarre statements about her disappearance during the search.

Although prosecutors said DNA evidence found on a gun taken from Plishka's home links him to the crime, Plishka's attorney says the sample could have come from someone else.

Court officials expect the trial, which started with jury selection Aug. 9, to last about two more weeks.

http://www.mcall.com/

To refresh your memory here's an article written last year concerning the trial and charges..............

Last update Jul 31, 2009 @ 05:51 PM

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