Homicides on the rise in Northumberland County

Jul. 24—SUNBURY — Over the past year, seven people have been charged with homicide in Northumberland County, making the past 12 months one of the deadliest years in the county's history.

Those murders, paired with those already in the county's court system, are adding more stress to an already strapped district attorney's office. Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz and the few assistant district attorneys he has working in the office are currently dealing with 11 total murders and a series of attempted homicides.

The numbers continue to rise in violent crimes in the Valley, but in Northumberland County, the numbers are far greater than any of the other three Valley counties.

In Union County, there are currently two homicide cases, while there is one in both Montour and Snyder counties.

"Crime is through the roof," Matulewicz said. "Violent crime is up and we are doing the best we can by working with federal and state agencies to combat this and with what we are given. We have a great relationship with the Attorney General's Office and the federal prosecutors office in the Middle District. But the numbers speak for themselves."

Shamokin Chief Ray Siko agreed with Matulewicz and said crime is on the rise in Shamokin.

"There is a 100-percent rise in crime," he said. "There is no one specific reason but it's on the rise."

Siko said violent crime has also increased.

"All crimes are on the rise including, narcotics, shootings, weapons, and it just getting worse, he said.

Sunbury Police Chief Brad Hare agreed.

"We are seeing an increase all over, especially more violent crime," he said. "I agree with Chief (Ray) Siko, there is no specific reason, but it continues to rise. We are being outmanned by this and that is why we are doing some of these saturation details in various parts of the county."

Matuelwicz's office funds the saturation patrols through the drug task force.

According to the state uniform crime reporting system, Northumberland County had 2,800 people charged from July 2021 until the present date.

The crimes vary, but some form of assault charges were filed on nearly 700 people, according to the report.

Matulewicz took office in 2016 and has since seen a more than 150-percent increase in his office's caseload, he said. Over his first nearly two years in office, there were no homicide cases in the county. Matulewicz's office also cleared five homicides last year, as the cases proceeded through the court system.

Northumberland can almost be compared to Dauphin County — which includes state capital Harrisburg — which had 23 homicides in 2021. Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said his county has had 13 homicides in 2022 so far and the county has not seen a real increase from years past.

"In an ideal world, we would have more personnel," Chardo said. "But I believe we are well equipped to do our work. We have not seen an increase."

Short staffed at the district attorney's office

Northumberland County Commissioners said Matulewicz has a budget for five assistant district attorneys but he is currently working with himself and four others, handling an abnormally large volume amount of criminal cases. His assistant district attorneys are Robin Zenzinger, Michael Seward, Leslie Bryden and Sarah Stigerwalt-Egan and he recently hired Paul Pruitt, giving him a fifth assistant.

Northumberland County Commissioner Sam Schiccatano said he completely understands the need for Matulewicz to get help in his office.

"We are working with Tony (Matulewicz) in every way we can," he said. "I understand the rise in crime in our county is at a high. We will do whatever we can to help the district attorney."

Commissioners gave approval on May 13 for Matulewicz to hire a sixth assistant under the guidelines that if crime drops, so does the position.

"I am very thankful for the position the commissioners were able to give me," he said. "Our office is all working very hard and has little time off and I am thankful for all they are doing with the amount of cases each of them are handling."

Matulewicz has begun advertising to fill the vacancies but is having difficulties.

"It's challenging," Matuelwicz said. "I contacted law schools across the state and the District Attorney Association and I have had very little applicants. Years ago, I would have dove on a chance to get in a district attorney's office, the problem is we have people who apply then don't return phone calls."

Matulewicz said the problem is the pay scale. The starting pay for an assistant district attorney is $50,000 in Northumberland County, commissioners said.

"There is really no room for raises," he said. "It's no ones fault but it is the reality. We have to find a way to get bonuses or a raise because of the cost of living. There is no incentive for veterans as opposed to someone coming out of law school."

Reporter Justin Strawser contributed to this report