May 7, 2007 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

A Connellsville man will go on trial today in Fayette County Court for allegedly killing his estranged wife’s lover in 2005. Jurors who hear the case will have to evaluate if Raymond “Mike” Prinkey, 50, is guilty of first-degree murder as prosecutors allege or voluntary manslaughter as his attorney claims.

Connellsville police charged Prinkey with criminal homicide in the Oct. 19, 2005, death of James Cononico.

And while prosecutors contend that it was an execution-style murder worthy of a life sentence, Prinkey’s attorney has previously argued that it was a crime committed “in a state of hot blood” and Prinkey couldn’t have formed the intent necessary for a murder conviction.

The only testimony at Prinkey’s preliminary hearing in November 2005 came from his wife, Lori Prinkey.

Lori Prinkey testified that her husband came to the East Washington Avenue apartment where she and Cononico were at about 6 a.m.

Cononico had spent the night there, she indicated, and opened the door to take the trash out to find Raymond Prinkey outside.

Lori Prinkey testified that Raymond Prinkey had a gun and ordered Cononico back into her apartment. She said that Cononico raised his hands in the air, and turned his back to Prinkey, who shot him in the head from about 2 feet away.

After Prinkey allegedly shot Cononico, Lori Prinkey testified that he would not allow her to call for help and wanted to talk to her about the state of their marriage. After a brief conversation, Lori Prinkey said her husband unloaded the gun and left.

She called 911, but medical personnel were unable to save Cononico, who died of massive head injuries from the gunshot.

Lori Prinkey, a unit manager at the State Correctional Institution at Somerset, said she met Cononico as one of the inmates she supervised. He was in prison on a technical parole violation associated with his armed robbery conviction when they met, according to her testimony.

Prinkey is currently free on $100,000 bond under a January 2006 order handed down by Judge Steve P. Leskinen.

In his opinion on the matter, Leskinen indicated that it was unlikely that Prinkey would be convicted of first-degree murder based on the facts presented to him.

The judge’s opinion indicated that when Raymond Prinkey came to his wife’s apartment, he was “suddenly confronted with the fact that after nearly two decades of marriage, his wife left him and their children for a tawdry extramarital affair.”

The trial will be held before Judge Ralph C. Warman.