Relying on testimony from the president of an engineering firm and a theater director, a Fayette County man accused of ambushing and killing his wife's boyfriend asked a judge Thursday to set bond so he may work while he awaits trial.
Almost 30 relatives and friends of Raymond "Mike" Prinkey, 49, of Springfield Township, attended a hearing yesterday to support his request for bail.
Prinkey is charged with the Oct. 19 homicide of James M. Cononico, a recently released state prisoner who Prinkey's wife, Lori, has called "the love of my life." During a preliminary hearing last month, Lori Prinkey testified that Raymond Prinkey fatally shot Cononico, 50, of Pittsburgh, in the head in her Connellsville apartment while she watched and begged for her life.
Judge Steve P. Leskinen said he will wait until a transcript of the preliminary hearing is prepared before he issues a ruling on Prinkey's motion for bond.
Cononico and Lori Prinkey met at the State Correctional Institution at Somerset, where she was a unit supervisor and he was completing a 5-to-14-year sentence for an armed robbery in Allegheny County. Cononico was released from prison on Aug. 4.
Raymond Prinkey's attorney, David Shrager, told Leskinen that prosecutors have an "extremely solid case" for third-degree murder, also known as voluntary manslaughter, but not for first-degree homicide.
First-degree murder can be a capital offense in Pennsylvania, although life imprisonment also is a possible sentence. According to state law, all defendants may be eligible for bail, except those facing a conviction in which the potential sentence would be death or life in prison.
District Attorney Nancy Vernon argued that she has enough evidence to seek a conviction for first-degree murder because Prinkey was "lying in wait" outside the apartment to attack Cononico, then he entered the residence and shot him in the head while Cononico was in a position of surrender. Prinkey also threatened to shoot his wife of 17 years, Vernon said.
Shrager said Prinkey's friends and family members likely will be able to post $100,000 on the defendant's behalf.
Four of Prinkey's supporters -- including Fayette Engineering Co. president Russ Mechling Jr. and State Theatre Center for the Arts Executive Director Marty Schiff -- gave testimony attesting to his character. Prinkey is a 15-year Fayette Engineering employee who Schiff described as the "quarterback" of about $1.5 million in recent renovations to the State Theatre.
"We went through some intense, high-pressure moments and (Prinkey) never slipped, never cracked, (even) if I had to call him 12 times a day," Schiff said.
Mechling said Prinkey worked hard to become a licensed engineer after he received an associate degree in engineering from Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
"I've known Mike for 15 years and Mike has always been a quiet person," Mechling said. "In 15 years, I don't think I've ever heard Mike raise his voice. He's never been unruly."
Neither Cononico's family nor Lori Prinkey attended the hearing.
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