It was a year in which violent crimes stunned cities and rural areas of Northeast and Northcentral Pennsylvania, federal immigration policies led to controversial deportations, and a bewildering theft shocked a Luzerne County community.
It also was a year when state transportation law took another step toward reducing deaths and injuries, high-profile projects got underway or completed, PennDOT officials said farewell to one of their own, and there were hopeful signs for the long-awaited train from Scranton to New York City.
Scranton machete attack
Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said investigating police found “pure evil” when they reached the sixth floor of the Jermyn Apartments earlier this month.
A man told police he smoked a hallucinogenic drug before killing two women and critically injuring another with a machete in the downtown Scranton apartment building on the night of Dec. 9, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police said Michael Willie Marquis Woods also killed a service dog that belonged to one of the dead women, according to the affidavit.
Gallagher said the women who died in the “brutal murder” at the Jermyn Apartments were Linda P. Fortuna, 61, and Terry M. Muller, 59, a military veteran.
Marilyn Joan Waller, 66, survived but was hospitalized with extensive injuries. Her daughter, Marissa Dankulich, created a GoFundMe to raise money to help Waller recover.
Muller’s service golden retriever, Nayla, 18 months old, also was killed.
Police charged Woods, 38, with criminal homicide and related counts. Court records show he was committed to the Lackawanna County Prison without bail pending further proceedings. A preliminary hearing has been continued until Jan. 23 before District Judge Alyce Hailstone Farrell.
Triple shooting at The Hideout
A 26-year-old man with a history of mental health troubles shot his parents and killed a public safety officer Sept. 28 in a gated Wayne County development, according to an arrest affidavit.
A heavily armed Lucas A. Gartrell, of The Hideout, Lake Ariel, Salem Twp., killed development security officer Jose Alberto Duran Jr., 55, and wounded Robert and Lisa Gartrell, who came to his home to check on him out of concern, according to the affidavit.
Dispatchers for 911 heard both parents identify their son as the shooter, according to the affidavit written by state troopers Jeffrey Kistle and Michael Collins.
The affidavit makes multiple references to Gartrell's parents saying he had mental health issues.
A lengthy list of charges against Gartrell includes criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault and first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer.
Court records show he was committed to the Wayne County Prison without bail pending further proceedings.
Fatal Susquehanna County ambush
A violent Susquehanna County rampage on Aug. 7 left two people dead, two Pennsylvania state troopers seriously wounded, an EMT injured and investigators looking for answers.
State police identified Carmine Faino, 61, as the gunman who fatally shot neighbor Lori Wasko, 57, in Thompson Township before ambushing troopers who responded to the scene.
"The suspect was armed with a rifle, refused to comply with commands, and was ultimately shot and killed during the incident. There is no remaining threat to the public," a state police press release said.
State police Commander Colonel Christopher L. Paris said troopers Joseph Perechinsky and William Jenkins III are "lucky to be alive."
Paris did not offer a possible motive for Faino's actions, but suggested they were not "a spur-of-the-moment type of decision."
Paris described how the wounded Perechinsky applied a tourniquet to his injured colleague while two other troopers helped them reach safety.
Then Perechinsky flagged down a tractor-trailer, asking the driver to position the rig across the highway to protect other motorists from the gunfire.
“After being shot twice in the chest, [he was still thinking,] ‘What can I do to secure this location? What can I do to make sure nobody else gets hurt?” Paris said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro also praised the troopers.
"I can tell you Trooper Perechinsky saved lives today," Shapiro said.
"I am always lifted up by the heroism and the bravery that these troopers demonstrate in just really, really difficult circumstances," Shapiro said. "This entire community owes them a debt of gratitude."
Both state troopers were treated for their injuries and released from local hospitals in the following days.
ICE tackles Honduran father on Dunmore street
Immigration arrests in the region made headlines in several counties, as previously noted in one of our earlier 2025 Year in Review stories.
The July arrest of Lackawanna County restaurant owner Nasario Damian Contreras was a top story of 2025, while a May raid on a popular Honesdale restaurant led to the arrest of three employees.
Perhaps no immigration case in Northeast Pennsylvania generated as much community outcry in 2025 as the arrest and deportation of Concepción Castro-Delcid and his school-age daughter.
Neighbors watched in shock Oct. 29 as the Honduran single father was snatched off a Dunmore street by masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while riding his bike to work.
A statement from the agency described Castro-Delcid, 44, as an "illegal alien with a final order of removal" related to a 2019 border apprehension in Hidalgo, Texas.
Some witness accounts circulating on social media claimed that Castro-Delcid was approached and tackled by five masked agents who were screaming expletives, even though he was not resisting.
ICE said that Castro-Delcid attempted to flee when approached.
"As officers approached and identified themselves as federal law enforcement, Castro-Delcid abruptly fled on foot, weaving through neighborhood yards and attempting to vault a backyard fence, actions that placed both the pursuing officers and nearby residents at unnecessary risk," the agency's statement said.
ICE's statement went on to say that Castro-Delcid was taken into custody using appropriate tactics.
Dunmore Mayor Max Conway, as well as state Sen. Marty Flynn (D-Dunmore), issued statements raising concerns about the apprehension of Castro-Delcid and his daughter, though both acknowledged they have no jurisdiction over federal immigration actions.
Conway said he spoke with federal agents on Wednesday and found them professional in their responses.
"But this wasn’t some violent criminal. It was a working single father and his young daughter. I don’t feel any safer knowing they were taken from our community,” Conway said.
Dunmore resident Breeda Cronin Holmes, whose daughter was friends with Castro-Delcid's daughter, said the girl was a sixth-grade student in the Dunmore School District, where she joined the cheerleading squad.
“She's a Buck, and that's what kills me. There's so many things about this that kill me,” Holmes said. “She was part of this community. She was in our parades. She has a Dunmore cheer uniform. This is a girl that had a future here … This is a little girl that's just like any other little girl.”
“It's unconscionable to me that this is happening in 2025 in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. It’s awful,” Holmes said. “These are real people. They're human beings.”
Shooting death at Lowe's in Scranton
The shooting death of an employee at Lowe’s in Scranton in June was “entirely preventable,” but store managers ignored the shooter’s escalating and “deep personal animosity” toward the victim for more than a year, a lawsuit alleges.
The suit filed by Keisha Moeller, the widow of shooting victim Jeffrey Moeller, accuses Lowe’s of “negligence and recklessness” for failing to protect her husband from fellow employee Christopher M. Wasnetsky.
Christopher M. Wasnetsky, 36, allegedly called 911 to report that he shot Moeller.
"I would like to report a shooting at the Dickson City Lowe's. I was the person that did it," Wasnetsky allegedly told a 911 dispatcher in a call that was reviewed by police and mentioned in a criminal complaint.
Wasnetsky told police he bought a handgun a week earlier to shoot Moeller, claiming Moeller harassed him for months.
Moeller, 44, repeatedly warned Lowe’s managers that Wasnetsky had a “personal vendetta” against him. Wasnetsky’s anger kept growing and “he needed to be kept away from Mr. Moeller,” the suit says.
It's an issue his sister, Christina Moeller, also raised in a GoFundMe post days after his death, when she said Moeller had complained to Lowe's human resources about 'troubling comments' directed at him by Wasnetsky, but "nothing was done."
A Lowe's spokesman offered no comment on the lawsuit.
Police charged Wasnetsky with murder in the first degree. He remains in the Lackawanna County Prison awaiting trial in county court.
Body thefts at Good Shepherd Memorial Park
He never met his great-grandmother, but he grew up hearing "wonderful stories" about her life and penchant for Sunday night family dinners.
Mary Cappellini Piga was one of the two people whose remains were stolen from Good Shepherd Memorial Park in early November.
There was no new information on the case as this story was being prepared for publication. Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce recently told WVIA News that the case had been transferred to the state Attorney General's office. The AG's office did not respond to requests for comment.
New Pa. distracted driving law takes effect
A new Pennsylvania law that took effect in June is designed to curb the use of electronic devices behind the wheel and save lives.
"Paul Miller's Law" is named for a Scranton man killed by a distracted tractor-trailer driver in 2010.
It says no driver may use an interactive mobile device (IMD) while driving a motor vehicle.
The law makes it a primary offense to do so, which means police can stop drivers if they have a mobile device in their hand while driving.
What are the penalties?
- For the first 12 months, police will be giving written warnings.
- Effective June 5, 2026, the penalty will be a summary offense with a $50 fine, plus court costs and other fees.
- If a driver is convicted of homicide by vehicle and driving while distracted, they may be sentenced up to an additional five years in prison.
PennDOT mourns District 4 executive
Richard N. Roman, a longtime Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official who led PennDOT's District 4 since 2019, died in November, the agency said.
"Rich was a steady, reliable leader who cared deeply about the people he worked with," District 4 spokeswoman Jessica Ruddy said in a statement. "The department’s thoughts and prayers are with Rich’s family and his colleagues during this time."
Roman, a Hazleton native, joined PennDOT in 1997 as a transportation construction inspector. He earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Penn State University with a minor in civil engineering. He went on to earn a master's degree in public administration and became a licensed professional engineer in 2002.
Roman held various road program and civil engineering jobs before becoming director of PennDOT's Bureau of Maintenance and Operations in 2014.
He was named District 4's acting director following the January 2019 retirement of George Roberts. He got the job permanently that September.
District 4, which covers Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties, has 4,000 miles of roads and 2,100 bridges.
State Sen. Marty Flynn, D-Lackawanna, recalled Roman as "a dedicated public servant who worked tirelessly to improve our region's infrastructure and ensure the safety of our roads."
"His professionalism, kindness, and commitment to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania earned him the respect and admiration of all who worked with him," Flynn wrote in a social media post.
PennDOT projects progress in region
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials in December reopened two major bridge projects to traffic in Lackawanna County.
The Interstate 84 "twin bridges" in Roaring Brook were made fully accessible to drivers in both directions, although work won't be fully completed until 2026.
The Green Ridge Street Bridge in Scranton, also was reopened. Like the I-84 project, it is nearly complete, although some work will continue into the new year.
Highlights from $892 million in work done during the 2025 construction season for District 4 include: 52 projects put out to bid, approximately 578 miles of paving and roadway maintenance, 49 bridges repaired or replaced, and 10,456 line-miles of road painted, PennDOT officials said.
"Not every project is as high-profile as the Twin Bridge project, where folks can see cranes and equipment," state Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll said.
"We have a lot of others that are very ordinary projects — but equally important — whether that's a small bridge that carries an SR [state road] over a creek, or whether it's a mill-and-fill project to resurface Main Street somewhere, the totality of what we do is all important," Carroll said.
Positive signs for NYC train
Pennsylvania has federal approval to plan train service between Scranton and New York City, the state Department of Transportation announced in January.
The Federal Railroad Administration approval puts the project among the first five proposed passenger rail expansions in the nation to reach this milestone, PennDOT announced.
PennDOT said then it expects to complete the service development plan by 2028. In an earlier study, Amtrak, the nation's largest passenger rail operator, suggested the train could be up and running as early as 2028.
That news came in mid January, before a new administration took office in Washington.
But new U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan in March offered “strong support” for the project in a letter addressed to then-Federal Railroad Administration Acting Administrator Michael Lestingi.
With supporters worried about the train’s future because of President Donald Trump’s desire to slash federal spending, Bresnahan said the train would boost Northeast Pennsylvania's economy.
That letter, and the train's future, also were discussed during a WVIA NEWS VOICES segment this year.
Don't forget to follow along each day at WVIA.org as we publish WVIA 2025 Year in Review, recounting the top stories of the past year through New Year's Day.
