Apr 25, 2006 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

A Normalville man accused of shooting his estranged wife’s paramour rejected a plea to first-degree murder on Monday in Fayette County Court. Raymond Prinkey, 49, of 305 Rogers Mill Road allegedly shot James Cononico in the early morning hours of Oct. 19, 2005. Cononico was living with Prinkey’s estranged wife, Lori, in Connellsville at the time.

Prinkey, through his attorney, David Shrager, declined the offer during a pre-trial conference before Judge Ralph C. Warman, a representative of the district attorney’s office indicated.

Cononico was going to take the trash out at the East Washington Avenue apartment when he opened the door about 6 a.m. to find Raymond Prinkey standing there, police said.

Prinkey allegedly ordered Cononico back into the house and shot him. He then allegedly turned the gun on his wife and asked her why she was with Cononico, prior testimony in the case indicated.

Prosecutors have contended that the shooting was “execution-style” because Prinkey allegedly shot Cononico behind the ear with a 9mm gun, and then refused to let his wife call for medical help.

But Judge Steve P. Leskinen disagreed last year. He set bond for Prinkey at $100,000 because he believed it was unlikely that a jury would convict Prinkey of first-degree murder. Under the state constitution, bail is not allowed for offenses punishable by life imprisonment, the punishment for a first-degree murder conviction.

Testimony at a preliminary hearing indicated that Lori Prinkey met Cononico while she was employed as a unit supervisor at the state prison in Somerset where he was incarcerated.

Lori Prinkey also testified that Cononico, released in August 2005, lived out of the area for some time before moving back to the area.

Also on Monday, a judge granted a motion to force county prosecutors to file discovery documents in the case. Discovery documents entail police, medical and other reports pertinent to the case.

Shrager asked Leskinen to prohibit prosecutors from presenting any evidence in the discovery because the jurist’s earlier order set April 5 as the date that discovery had to be filed.

In an order handed down Monday afternoon, however, Leskinen rejected that request and instead set a May 5 deadline for discovery. Shrager will then have until June 2 to file any pre-trial motions.

District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon was unavailable to explain the delay.