State police charge Mayfield man for homicide in Carbondale
Jun. 7—State police at Dunmore charged a Mayfield man with criminal homicide today for killing a woman at her Carbondale home more than two months ago.
Jerry Koezeno, 54, 616 Poplar St., Apt. 3, is charged with criminal homicide and theft by unlawful taking for killing Suzanne Pauswinski on March 29 and for taking $775 of her money, according to a criminal complaint.
The Lackawanna County district attorney's office scheduled a news conference today to discuss Pauswinski's killing.
Koezeno has been jailed at Lackawanna County Prison since April 3, when the state police arrested him for driving under the influence. He admitted to investigators at that time that he met with the victim on the day she was killed but wanted to speak with a lawyer when pressed on his involvement in her death, police said.
Investigators later filed weapons charges against him because they found a rifle at his home which he is barred from possessing because of felony convictions in Florida.
An autopsy found Pauswinski, 55, suffered multiple stab wounds, according to a criminal complaint. On May 5, investigators received a report that found blood on his boots that they had seized during his arrest. They then received a laboratory report Friday that concluded the blood belonged to Pauswinski.
Police also learned from the victim's brother, Michael Fortuner, that she kept money in her freezer, according to the complaint. That money was missing when she was discovered dead, police said.
Hours before her body was discovered, Koezeno was recorded on a bar's surveillance camera depositing a total of $775 into gaming machines. He told others he got the money from a winning lottery ticket but state police could find no record of him redeeming a winning lottery ticket and a search warrant on his bank account reflected a March 22 balance of $4.46 with no deposits made until April 2.
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Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.
