WILKES-BARRE — In the more than four years since Matthew Ryan Gailie died, his family has waited for justice.
Through the years, they’ve endured a rare coroner’s inquest, a guilty plea that was later withdrawn, a lengthy appeal over evidence and a trial that nearly derailed earlier this week.
But on Friday, they got what they wanted when a jury convicted his ex-girlfriend, Jessica Alinsky, of third-degree murder.
“It’s all overwhelming and hard to believe it’s over,” Gailie’s sister, Ariana Gailie, said after the verdict. “We had an amazing team of people who worked so hard to get justice for Matt and we can never thank them enough.”
When she pleaded guilty to the same offense in April 2014, Alinsky immediately recanted and told reporters she would never have hurt Gailie, a 34-year-old correctional officer. After the jury found her guilty of third-degree murder and tampering with evidence, she offered no such comment as she left the Luzerne County Courthouse in shackles and tears.
Assistant District Attorney Daniel Zola, who prosecuted the case along with ADA Jill Matthews, said the verdict had been a long time coming.
“We feel that the verdict of third-degree was appropriate. The jury got it right,” Zola said. “I think that the most powerful evidence that the jury was able to hear was obviously the forensic evidence. It was tough because we had to re-create the entire crime scene starting from scratch and try to sift through all the lies that the defendant told and the manipulation of the crime scene.”
Prosecutors alleged Alinsky, 32, shot Gailie in the face at their Hazle Township home in September 2011 and then tried to make it look like he killed himself because of money troubles.
Prosecutors’ case hinged on repeated conflicting statements Alinsky made about what happened at the couple’s Hazle Township home the night of Sept. 2, 2011, and a crime scene they allege looked nothing like a suicide.
According to prosecutors, Alinsky alternately claimed she had been upstairs when she heard a shot, been in the room when she heard a shot and been next to Gailie when the gun went off during a struggle.
State police found Gailie’s body on the living room floor, although a large pool of blood had seeped into a couch, and his gun was in his left hand — finger still in the trigger guard — even though he was right-handed. Neighbors testified to hearing a gunshot 16 minutes before Alinsky called 911, and investigators found blood smeared all over Gailie’s body, next to which they found a torn old bank statement with a bloody hand print that Gailie couldn’t have left because he was immediately incapacitated.
Alinsky claimed she had been upstairs when she heard a gunshot and came down to find Gailie, but she later offered police other accounts — including one where she was right next to him and involved in a struggle with the gun when it went off.
In one comment as troopers took her from the scene, Alinsky said, “My finger was on the trigger. ... Our fight caused this,” according to police.
The defense in the case never provided jurors with an alternate scenario, leaving it open as to whether Gailie killed himself or was killed in an accidental shooting. Following a roughly week-long presentation by the state, jurors heard only a half day’s worth of testimony from the defense, mostly aimed at establishing how drunk Alinsky got at a West Hazleton bar shortly before Gailie was killed.
Alinsky herself never testified. Fannick said it was her decision, and he acknowledged the difficultly she would have faced if confronted with the number of statements she gave police.
Jurors also never heard from Dr. Mark Reynolds, an Australian blood-spatter expert who contacted the defense mid-trial saying he reviewed Gailie’s death when Trooper John Corrigan presented it during a seminar in Bethlehem in March 2014 and found his conclusions flawed.
After Reynolds left a surprise voicemail for Fannick on Feb. 5, Fannick filed for a mistrial, alleging prosecutors withheld evidence. Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley denied the mistrial but said she would give Fannick several days to procure Reynolds.
Fannick said Feb. 5 that simply wasn’t enough time for Reynolds to review the case and get ready to take the stand.
“You can’t just give the guy a report in the mail and say, ‘Well I need you to testify on Tuesday regarding the findings,’” Fannick said. “He would be subjected to intensive cross-examination too, so he would have to certainly be more prepared than just reviewing a report.”
Reynolds’ testimony — which included an allegation that Corrigan had conceded the blood at the scene indicated Gailie’s death could have been a suicide — would have had a big impact on the case, and Alinsky intends to appeal the verdict, Fannick said.
Zola, however, disputed the significance of Reynolds’ appearance, noting he had been able to cross-examine the witness during a mistrial hearing earlier in the week.
“It was clear during that cross-examination that he had very limited knowledge of the case,” Zola said. “This case was not a technical blood spatter type of case. ... It was clear that the body had been moved, that the body had rested in certain spots and then was moved, and it didn’t take technical expertise to say that.”
Zola said prosecutors intend to seek the maximum sentence, which is 20 to 40 years in prison on the murder count and up to two more for evidence tampering. Gartley set sentencing for 1 p.m. March 22.
The judge denied a defense motion to allow bail pending that time, noting a jury had just convicted Alinsky of third-degree murder.
“Bail is revoked,” Gartley said.