Attorneys for accused killer asking for dismissal of charges
Attorneys for one of the two men accused of killing a Connellsville woman and dumping her body in the Youghiogheny River last summer want a Fayette County judge to dismiss the charges, arguing that the prosecution can’t prove its case.
Craig Allen Rugg, 25, of Connellsville is charged with criminal homicide, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful restraint, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy to commit each, plus one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Rugg is accused of conspiring with Paul Bannasch, 25, of Connellsville, who faces the same set of charges, to kill 52-year-old Margaret “Peggy” Kriek.
Kriek’s badly beaten and sexually assaulted body was found floating in the river in Dunbar Township on June 22, and witnesses said they last saw her with Rugg and Bannasch at around 11:30 the night before.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against both defendants, citing two aggravating circumstances in the case, specifically that the killing was committed while in the course of committing felonies — namely kidnapping, aggravated indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse — and that the killing was committed by means of torture.
Rugg’s court-appointed attorneys, Dianne Zerega and James Geibig, argued in a motion filed on Friday that a judge should quash the torture claim because prosecutors have not provided any evidence that Kriek was alive when various injuries occurred.
According to Zerega and Geibig, any fact that may increase the maximum penalty of a crime must be charged in an indictment, submitted to a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Here, there is no evidence . . . that the defendant tortured the victim as defined under Pennsylvania law,” the attorneys wrote.
They went on to say that torture has a very technical and precise meaning and that the prosecution bears the burden of proving that Rugg specifically intended to inflict considerable pain and suffering that was separate and apart from the pain and suffering inflicted during the alleged killing itself.
Similarly, the Zerega and Geibig are asking for the case to be dismissed in its entirety because they contend the prosecution cannot prove that Rugg had the specific intent to kill Kriek, nor can they prove the elements of kidnapping, unlawful restraint and sexual assault.
The attorneys are additionally asking for statements Rugg made to police to be suppressed, arguing he was under the influence of controlled substances at the time and could not have knowingly, intelligently nor voluntarily waived his rights against self-incrimination.
Zerega and Geibig argued that the prosecution lacked probable cause to obtain and execute search and arrest warrants for Rugg.
They are also asking for the case to be tried outside of Fayette and surrounding counties, arguing that various media reports have prejudiced the potential jury pool locally.
A judge will rule on these motions at a later date.