Prosecutors suddenly withdrew charges Friday against a suspect in the killing of a prominent Luzerne County businessman 15 years ago, allowing Thomas "Tim" Hunter to walk out of prison a free man.
In a move they refused to explain, county prosecutors dropped criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide charges against Hunter in the stabbing death of Jonathan Balester, 56, on May 26, 2011. Though prosecutors wouldn't explain the move, Hunter testified for them during a July hearing on another suspect's effort to dismiss the case.
Balester’s cousin, Frederick Balester, 69, of Hanover Twp., still faces a criminal homicide charge after failing to get the charges dismissed. He remains imprisoned without bail.
Prosecutors dropped the charges just before Hunter’s preliminary hearing was scheduled to begin Friday morning after five previous postponements.
Dressed in a tan Lackawanna County Prison jumpsuit, Hunter looked relieved. A woman sitting in the courtroom teared up and clasped her hands as if in prayer in front of her face after realizing Hunter was about to go free.
Still handcuffed and shackled, Hunter declined to comment as he left a Luzerne County Courthouse courtroom.
Prosecutors duck explanation
At first, it was unclear what happened. Prosecutors did not audibly explain why they dropped the charges before Magisterial District Judge Brian Tupper.
Afterward, Assistant District Attorney Jill Matthews, the lead prosecutor, declined to comment on what happened or why the charges were withdrawn. She cited a gag order in the Frederick Balester case. Yeager also declined to comment.
Reached by telephone later, Tupper confirmed prosecutors withdrew the charges but said they did not explain why.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce later issued a statement confirming the office withdrew the charges and partially explaining why.
“Even though we met the probable cause standard at the time of arrest, information uncovered by investigators since that time led to our decision to withdraw the charges against Mr. Hunter,” Sanguedolce said in a text.
He declined to explain further, citing the gag order barring lawyers from discussing the case publicly. He said "further details ... will be revealed" when Frederick Balester goes on trial Oct. 5.
Case rooted in family company
Both Balesters partially owned Balester Optical, but Jonathan Balester owned a majority share. For years, he refused to sell the company, despite multiple offers, including one for $4.9 million, according to police.
Jonathan Balester's stubbornness eventually angered Frederick Balester enough to stab and kill his cousin, police allege. In October 2012, 17 months after the murder, the company was sold for an undisclosed amount.
In May, four months after charging Frederick Balester, with the stabbing, state police charged Hunter, 64, of Hanover Twp., with helping him do it.
They alleged Hunter told a confidential witness that he and Frederick Balester went to Jonathan Balester’s Kingston Twp. home, according to Hunter’s arrest affidavit. The witness told state police that Hunter said he used a “stun gun on the victim and pushed him to the ground and that Frederick Balester stabbed the victim in the back.”
“He expressed concerns that his DNA was going to be found on evidence discovered at the scene, including ... bloody gloves,” Trooper Caroline Rayeski wrote in the affidavit. “He expressed disbelief that Frederick Balester kept the (stun gun) device. He also said that Frederick Balester paid him.”
Investigators obtained a search warrant for a sample of Hunter’s DNA, which matched DNA in a latex glove found at the murder scene.
Hunter's version
In a May interview with state police, Hunter said he and Frederick Balester drove to Frederick’s home after an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Frederick went inside briefly, came back out and said, “We got to go to Jonathan’s.”
At his cousin’s home, Frederick argued with Jonathan over the company’s sale, Hunter said.
At this point, Hunter’s account diverges from that of the confidential witness, according to his arrest affidavit.
When Jonathan Balester continued to refuse to sell, Hunter told police Frederick Balester jolted him with the stun gun and stabbed him “multiple times in the back,” according to the Hunter arrest affidavit.
“Hunter additionally admitted that he moved the body of Jonathan, whom he stated was already deceased,” the affidavit says. Hunter told police Frederick gave him gloves before they entered the home.
Essilor USA, the company that eventually bought Balester Optical, made another offer and the shareholders scheduled a vote for the afternoon of May 26.
Jonathan Balester, who had not missed a meeting in 30 years, never showed because he was already dead, according to the arrest affidavit filed against Frederick Balester.
When the case cracked
Police reviewing autopsy photos in 2022 noticed stun gun marks on Jonathan’s back. The marks were separated by the same distance as electrodes on a stun gun found in Frederick Balester’s home.
That eventually led to the criminal charges, first against Frederick Balester, then Hunter.
