Kathy Pinna
Honesdale Woman Sentenced for Murder Plot
HONESDALE, WAYNE COUNTY - Nearly one year after she conspired to kill her husband Ronald, a Wayne County woman learned her fate Wednesday afternoon. 38-year-old Patricia Luyster was sentenced to between 15 and 34 years behind bars in state prison. Luyster made a tearful apology minutes before Judge Raymond Hamill handed down the sentence.
"She willingly plotted with her 17-year-old daughter. She knew it was going on, coordinated it and tied it with the birthday of one of her daughters," Wayne County District Attorney Michael Lehutsky said.
Ronald Luyster was shot in the chest with a 22-caliber rifle outside his Honesdale home as he came back from dinner last April. Patricia said the plot came only after years of physical and emotional abuse from a man addicted to cocaine. "Despite the batterings, she had her choices. She opted to select the choice of murder as opposed to the other alternatives and in a civilized society, you cannot stand by and accept that as an appropriate end," Lehutsky said.
Before handing down his sentence, Judge Hamill had harsh words for Patricia Luyster. He said she could have stopped the murder and her fingerprints were all over the crime. Even after sentencing, Luyster remained quiet with the media, but inside, she admitted making mistakes and took full responsibility for her actions. Members of the domestic violence group Safe Haven on Pike County, who have worked with Luyster, spoke on her behalf.
"In her defense, we do feel that Pat did do her best and because of a lack of resources at the time, she was not successfully able to leave a situation that she would have desperately loved to," Cynthia Edwards said. "I have seen a lot of criminal defendants who reach for the bible after they're caught and facing judgment of their own and there's a lot of merit in that... but there's a lot of times when it's a matter of convenience," Lehutsky said.
Besides Patricia Luyster, her daughter Carissa has also pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Carissa's boyfriend, Cody Steich, who pulled the trigger, pleaded guilty to third degree murder. Both will be sentenced in May.
- Pocono News Wednesday, April 9, 2008 reported by Eric Deabill.
"She willingly plotted with her 17-year-old daughter. She knew it was going on, coordinated it and tied it with the birthday of one of her daughters," Wayne County District Attorney Michael Lehutsky said.
Ronald Luyster was shot in the chest with a 22-caliber rifle outside his Honesdale home as he came back from dinner last April. Patricia said the plot came only after years of physical and emotional abuse from a man addicted to cocaine. "Despite the batterings, she had her choices. She opted to select the choice of murder as opposed to the other alternatives and in a civilized society, you cannot stand by and accept that as an appropriate end," Lehutsky said.
Before handing down his sentence, Judge Hamill had harsh words for Patricia Luyster. He said she could have stopped the murder and her fingerprints were all over the crime. Even after sentencing, Luyster remained quiet with the media, but inside, she admitted making mistakes and took full responsibility for her actions. Members of the domestic violence group Safe Haven on Pike County, who have worked with Luyster, spoke on her behalf.
"In her defense, we do feel that Pat did do her best and because of a lack of resources at the time, she was not successfully able to leave a situation that she would have desperately loved to," Cynthia Edwards said. "I have seen a lot of criminal defendants who reach for the bible after they're caught and facing judgment of their own and there's a lot of merit in that... but there's a lot of times when it's a matter of convenience," Lehutsky said.
Besides Patricia Luyster, her daughter Carissa has also pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Murder. Carissa's boyfriend, Cody Steich, who pulled the trigger, pleaded guilty to third degree murder. Both will be sentenced in May.
- Pocono News Wednesday, April 9, 2008 reported by Eric Deabill.
