Sep 25, 2002 By Christine Haines 8 min read

WASHINGTON – John Shaker testified Tuesday that he was afraid he was going to be killed by Gregory Modery and Alexander Martos following the murder of Ohio medical consultant Ira Swearingen in December 1999. Shaker testified that he was with Modery and Martos the night Swearingen was lured from the area of an adult bookstore, beaten, robbed and kidnapped. Martos, 35, formerly of Bentleyville and Monongahela, has pled guilty to first-degree murder in Swearingen’s shooting death and is expected to be sentenced to life without parole. Modery, 32, of McMurray, is currently on trial for homicide as his accomplice. District Attorney John Pettit is seeking the death penalty.

Shaker gave detailed testimony of his activities with Modery and Martos starting with his arrival at the Pittsburgh Greyhound Bus Station with Martos on Dec. 3, 1999, where they were met by Debbie Levandosky. The two had been in Las Vegas. His testimony concluded with his confession to his part in Swearingen’s disappearance to the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police in Las Vegas and his extradition to Pennsylvania.

Shaker said that the day he and Martos arrived in Pennsylvania Modery drove them to Mark Welsh’s house where he and Martos broke into the house and stole four guns, a knife and a small safe. The items were then taken to Modery’s house, Shaker said.

“Mr. Modery left the room where we were. He came back with a towel in his hands. He wiped down the guns and placed them in a black plastic bag,” Shaker testified.

Shaker said he next saw the weapons on the evening of Dec. 12 when he, Modery and Martos went to Sean Wolowski’s house. Shaker said Modery took two of the four stolen weapons from under Wolowski’s bed, a .45 caliber gun and a .38 caliber gun.

“Mr. Modery asked Mr. Wolowski if he could borrow his vehicle. Greg said they wanted to go roll a pickle. Wolowski said no,” Shaker said.

They next went to Robert Petrick’s home to borrow his vehicle, Shaker said, which Modery drove to a nearby adult bookstore. Shaker said Modery drove down a dead-end road perpendicular to the bookstore, then Martos got in the driver’s seat and drove back to the bookstore parking lot. Shaker said he and Modery hid behind a large piece of equipment parked at the site and they were both wearing masks over their faces.

Shaker said he could see Martos in the parking lot flashing his brake lights, then another car flashed its headlights and Martos headed to where he and Modery were waiting, with the other car following.

“I heard two doors open and close. I couldn’t see if anyone got out. I couldn’t hear specifically what was said, but I could hear conversation,” Shaker said. “I heard a large smack sound. When the smack sound happened, Mr. Modery ran out and ran toward where the two cars were parked.”

Shaker said he followed.

“I saw Mr. Martos fighting with a man and Mr. Modery ran up and started to hit the man as well. He was punching him and kicking him. The gentleman was down on the ground and he was being kicked and punched. His legs were sliding around and I was instructed to hold his legs. Mr. Modery was swinging and it grazed off of me, so I backed up a little and the man started to get up. Mr. Modery hit him. ‘That’s how you hit somebody. I broke his jaw, did you hear it?'” Shaker quoted Modery as saying. “Then the man went down again.”

Shaker said Modery got the man’s keys out of his pocket and pulled the man’s car up near the scene of the fight and opened the trunk.

“Mr. Modery walked back to where the gentleman was down on the ground. He was conscious, but he was asking ‘Why are you doing this to me?'” Shaker said.

Shaker testified that Modery then picked the man up and threw the man in head-first.

“His leg was sticking up. Greg slammed the trunk down on his leg and he screamed and pulled his leg in and Greg closed the trunk,” Shaker said.

Shaker said they then drove back to Petrick’s house with Modery driving the victim’s car and Shaker driving by himself in Petrick’s car. He said Modery drove the victim’s car to the back of Petrick’s house. He, Martos and Modery then went into Petrick’s for a period of time, then all four men went outside to the victim’s car and the trunk was opened and the man again punched.

“Mr. Martos and Mr. Modery were asking him where his wallet was, his credit cards, MAC card and money. They were punching him real bad and screaming at him, asking where his things were,” Shaker said.

Shaker said that went on for a while before Modery located the wallet.

“At that point the trunk was closed and Mr. Modery and Mr. Martos got into the vehicle and turned the inside light on. There were bags in the back seat and they were removed and brought into Mr. Petrick’s house. They were burned in a burn barrel on Mr. Petrick’s property,” Shaker said.

Shaker said Martos and Modery then left to go to an automated teller machine.

“When Mr. Martos and Mr. Modery returned, they were very happy. Alex and Greg came to the trunk. At this time they knew his name. They told Mr. Swearingen that he’d done good, that the PIN numbers he had given them had worked and they were going to let him go,” Shaker said.

Shaker said he and Petrick went to Wal-Mart where he tried unsuccessfully to use Swearingen’s credit card, they then went to buy some drugs with money Martos had given Petrick. Shaker said they then returned to Petrick’s house and Martos and Modery arrived about a half-hour later, possibly after 2 a.m. Shaker said Modery stayed only a few minutes, saying he’d pick Martos and Shaker up at Petrick’s the next morning, which he did.

“I was with Mr. Modery a good part of the day and the evening as well,” Shaker said.

Shaker said he, Martos and Shaker went to The Travel Zone where Debbie Levandosky worked. Shaker said he and Levandosky shopped together that evening, with Levandosky acting as his girlfriend and calling him Ira so there wouldn’t be any questions when he used Swearingen’s credit card. That night he, Levandosky, Modery and Martos went to the Baltimore House restaurant.

“Greg lifted his glass and made a toast to Ira in my direction. He referred to me as Ira and he said I did well,” Shaker said.

Shaker said Modery also advised him as he was paying with Swearingen’s credit card to leave a generous tip to keep the waitress from saying anything in the future if she were ever questioned.

Shaker said he and Martos were staying at the home of one of Levandosky’s employees whom he knew only as Julie. He said that on Tuesday he, Martos and Modery did more shopping, he and Martos got their hair cut and Martos was dropped off at his grandmother’s to visit his son.

Shaker said that between shopping and the hair cuts, he asked about Swearingen.

“Mr. Modery said they killed Mr. Swearingen because he had seen Mr. Martos’ face. Mr. Modery told me that if I ever said anything, he’d put a .45 bullet in my head and if he didn’t, he’d pay someone to do it. He turned around and pointed at me. ‘You don’t know a thing, right?’ I said yeah,” Shaker said.

Shaker said Modery later threw the murder weapon, some bullets and two clips for the gun over a bridge into the Monongahela River. One clip landed on the shore, Shaker said.

Shaker said that on Wednesday evening he, Modery and Martos went back to Wolowski’s for another one of the stolen guns using Swearingen’s car with Modery driving. They then went back to the adult bookstore.

“Mr. Modery told me I had to be the pickle. That meant I had to go down to the bookstore like Mr. Martos did and make contact with someone like Mr. Martos did,” Shaker said.

Shaker said he did as he was told and led a man back to where Martos and Modery were, where the man was then beaten up.

“Mr. Modery hit the individual and kicked the individual. He put the individual in the trunk the same way he did Mr. Swearingen,” Shaker said.

Martos and Modery left to use the man’s cards at a bank machine, then let the man out of the trunk and beat him some more before leaving him near his own vehicle.

“Greg had come over to Julie’s house on Thursday morning and told Mr. Martos they had to take care of loose ends. Me, I’m the loose end,” Shaker said.

Shaker said Modery returned that evening and he and Martos left to burn Swearingen’s car.

“Mr. Modery almost insisted that I go. I told them I wasn’t going to go with them any more. I believed that if I went with them, I wouldn’t come back,” Shaker said.

Shaker said Modery picked Martos up at Julie’s house the morning of Friday, Dec. 17, and that was the last he saw of them until their preliminary hearings in January. The trial will continue today with defense attorney Fred Rabner cross-examining Shaker.