Woman charged in Thompson Twp. homicide

A Thompson man is dead and his live-in girlfriend faces criminal homicide charges.

Cassandra Mercincavage, 31, of Thompson, was charged Monday with criminal homicide in the Sept. 26 shooting death of Robert Hubal.

Police tracked Mercincavage to a motel in Moosic, where she was taken into custody. She was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jodi Cordner and is being held without bail in the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility.

Hubal was shot in the head twice and once in the body, according to court documents. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Susquehanna County Coroner Anthony Conarton when his body was discovered in his residence on Sunday, Oct. 1.

Hubal’s son, Robert J. Hubal, went to the home to check on his father on Sunday morning after not being able to contact him for about a week. He discovered his father’s body lying on the floor of a bedroom with what appeared to be a gunshot would to the back, according to the affidavit filed in New Milford District Court.

Robert J. Hubal told police investigators he had attempted to contact his father for several days after noticing cows on the family farm had not been fed in the mornings.

He also said he communicated via text message with Mercincavage and she had informed him that the two had separated and she had been given until Friday to leave the house.

A search warrant for the residence was issued by Judge Cordner. Police recovered several cartridge casings, several cartridges and a round that was located in the living room area of the residence.

Hubal’s body was transported to Barnes-Kasson Hospital in Susquehanna and was x-rayed. The x-ray showed three bullets in his body – two in the head and one on his right side.

According to the affidavit, Mercincavage and Hubal had been together for about five years, but the relationship soured and Hubal requested she move out of the home.

After she was apprehended and read her Miranda warning, Mercincavage was questioned by Cpl. Benjamin Clark and Tpr. Jefrey Sokso at the Gibson barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police.

According to the affidavit, Mercincavage initially denied any involvement in Hubal’s death. She also gave police two different stories of the events on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 26, and claimed she did not know he had been shot.

Police said that Mercincavage requested her medication that had been left in the hotel room and said, with the medication, would tell investigators what had happened. The medication – soboxone – was retrieved by police and she was given the requested dose.

Suboxone is a prescription medicine used to treat adults who are dependent on opioids.

After receiving the drug, Mercincavage admitted to shooting Hubal. According to the affidavit, she first told police Hubal threatened her with a different firearm; she then said she shot him with the weapon he used to threaten her.

Mercincavage told police that the two had argued, and she cut Hubal with a knife and then shot him while he was on the ground with a .22 caliber rifle.

The rifle was recovered at a residence in Scranton where she told police she had stashed it.

She also admitted to police that she had opportunity to flee the residence prior to the shooting but chose not to do so; and said he was not holding a weapon or anything else in his hands when she shot him.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 2.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Mercincavage on Monday, Oct. 16 in New Milford District Court.