Scottdale area woman’s bail remains at $50,000
A Scottdale area woman charged in the shooting and stabbing death of a bar owner will remain free on bail despite requests from Fayette County prosecutors that she await her criminal trial in jail. Catherine Hamborsky, 41, allegedly killed Thomas Lesniak, 52, of Melcroft on Jan. 4 at J.J.’s Bar in Upper Tyrone Township, and then burned the establishment down with him inside. In an alleged confession to police, she claimed she was forced to defend herself against unwanted sexual advances. Police allege after she shot him five times, and stabbed him, she left the bar and returned with a gas can to set it on fire.
Hamborsky’s attorney, Samuel Davis, requested bond, in the case because he believed Hamborsky could not be convicted of first- or second-degree murder. Such a conviction amount to a life sentence at the state constitution precludes bail.
During a hearing when District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon was unavailable, an assistant prosecutor agreed to Davis’ request, and Judge Steve P. Leskinen set it at $50,000 in early March. Later that month, Vernon made a request to either revoke bail or raise Hamborsky’s bail amount to $200,000.
Leskinen, in a ruling handed down Wednesday, said that raising the bail amount by $150,000 would be tantamount to not granting Hamborsky bail at all. He also indicated in the opinion that Vernon’s request to raise the bail amount seemed to indicate that Hamborsky would not be convicted of first- or second-degree murder.
“Here, setting bond at $200,000 would be equivalent to denying bail altogether,” Leskinen wrote.
“There has been no evidence presented to show that the defendant and her family would be able to post such a large amount. Setting bond at $200,000 would be a charade that would only thinly disguise the denial of the defendant’s constitutional right to reasonable bail under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
At an April hearing on that matter, Lesniak’s daughter and ex-wife testified he was a happy, non-aggressive man, contrary to statements Hamborsky gave to police. Lesniak’s daughter, Faith, called her father a “sensitive and caring man.”
Nonetheless, Leskinen’s order indicated that Hamborsky raised self-defense in the case, and it would be up to prosecutors to prove otherwise at a trial. Vernon said that she believes there is enough evidence to uphold a first-degree murder conviction given the number of times Lesniak was shot.
An online docket sheet indicates that Hamborsky’s trial is scheduled to begin Monday, but it is unlikely that it will because she has yet to have a pre-trial conference.