A lawyer for the man accused of killing a fellow Lowe’s employee last June in the Lackawanna County store plans to use a “mental infirmity” defense.
Attorney Joseph McGraw argues Christopher Wasnetsky suffered from three brain disorders when he shot Jeffrey Moeller to death early on June 14 inside the Lowe’s in Scranton near the Viewmont Mall and should not be held responsible for the killing.
In a court notice filed Feb. 13, McGraw argues Wasnetsky suffered from depression, schizoid disorder and spinocerebellar ataxia type 7.
“It is not yet known how long Mr. Wasnetsky suffered from these conditions,” McGraw wrote in the notice.
The disorders defined
Depression, a common and serious mental disorder, can leave a person feeling sad, irritable, empty or hopeless, cause a person to lose interest in activities, lose energy and consider suicide, according to the American Psychiatric Association's website.
A person with schizoid disorder shows little interest and ability in forming relationships with other people and has trouble expressing emotions, according to the Mayo Clinic's website.
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 is an inherited condition that can impair nerve fibers that carry messages to the brain, according to the National Ataxia Foundation's website.
DA to oppose defense plan
The notice was filed in county court Feb. 13. State law requires the notice when a defendant plans to use a mental insanity or infirmity defense.
“We are certainly going to fight that motion,” District Attorney Brian Gallagher said in a text Friday. "We believe that this was premeditated and the evidence that we have shows that."
Shooting as described by affidavit
Scranton police charged Wasnetsky with first- and third-degree murder. He remains in the county prison awaiting trial.
Wasnetsky, 36, who lived in Dalton, reported shooting Moeller in a call to 911, according to an arrest affidavit.
"I would like to report a shooting at the ... Lowe's. I was the person that did it," Wasnetsky said.
Wasnetsky told police he bought a handgun a week earlier to shoot Moeller, who he claimed harassed him for months. He shot Moeller in the chest without warning and then twice more in the head when Moeller asked for help so he wouldn’t suffer, according to the affidavit.
Keisha Moeller sued Lowe’s in December for allowing Wasnetsky to shoot her husband, despite many warning signs.
The suit says the shooting was “entirely preventable,” but store managers ignored Wasnetsky’s escalating and “deep personal animosity” toward the victim for more than a year, a lawsuit alleges.
“Mr. Wasnetsky told Lowe’s management that he was so angry at Mr. Moeller that he was ‘physically shaking with anger,’ that he ‘couldn’t sleep ... because he was making me so angry, that the personal animosity he had for Mr. Moeller was ‘starting to affect my mental health,’ and that he had ‘to not be around him (Moeller) for my own mental health,’” the suit alleges.
Lowe’s has declined comment on the suit, but says the safety of its employees and customers is “our top priority.”
