Testimony heard in Simpson cold case homicide
Apr. 13—SCRANTON — Melissa Rocuba seemed angry.
Screams and shouts of "get out" by the Simpson woman were audible in surveillance footage captured the 2013 night she was fatally shot by her husband, Bruno Rocuba, state police said.
"Then there's a gunshot," said Cpl. Daniel Nilon, reading a transcript.
On Thursday, prosecutors used the transcript of audio captured from the surveillance system — collected after the Aug. 6, 2013, shooting but seemingly unexamined for years — as evidence in a habeas corpus hearing to determine if criminal charges against Bruno Rocuba should stand.
Lackawanna County Judge Mary Walsh Dempsey will make a ruling on the issue in roughly two months. Rocuba's attorney, Joseph D'Andrea, and prosecutors from the Lackawanna County district attorney's office will draft briefs in the coming weeks.
The state police arrested Rocuba, 57, on June 3, accusing him of killing Melissa Rocuba and, over the years, pocketed more than $100,000 in inheritance meant for his two daughters. He is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder and theft by unlawful taking, court documents show.
Rocuba shot himself in the palm of his left hand; the bullet passed through and struck Melissa Rocuba in the head at their home at 346 Jefferson St., investigators said
State police said Rocuba gave investigators and 911 operators seven versions of how the shooting happened. His initial statement to dispatchers included: "We were fighting."
Rocuba has maintained that the shooting was an accident. He cried at times during Thursday's hearing and dabbed his eyes with a tissue.
Rocuba waived his right to a preliminary hearing but preserved his right to petition for habeas corpus. D'Andrea filed a petition in February, arguing it would be premature to file pretrial motions until prosecutors establish their case on the record.
In an approximately five-hour hearing, District Attorney Mark Powell and First Assistant District Attorney Judy Price called six witnesses and showed dozens of crime scene and autopsy photographs.
Members of the Rocuba family filled the benches. One man approached Rocuba as county sheriff's deputies prepared to move the defendant and said, "I hope they kill you."
Rocuba must have been standing over his wife with his left hand on her head when he fired, according to forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross. When D'Andrea questioned Ross's version of events, Ross said, "That's what happened."
The case had been open for years, and investigators began examining other avenues, including reviewing surveillance footage from the Rocuba's home, according to Nilon.
In addition to the surveillance footage and Ross's findings, the investigation also focused on evidence Rocuba pocketed money meant for his daughters, Chelsea Cicio and Sabrina Zurn.
Cicio, fighting tears, testified how she and her sister renounced their rights to administer their mother's estate, naming their father as administrator.
That estate, state police said, included a $28,511.70 annuity paid to Melissa Rocuba from a $1.5 million jackpot win at a casino in 2007.
Rocuba also told Cicio years after the shooting he had been fighting with his wife because she had been drinking and he intended to "scare her," not kill her, Cicio testified.
Cicio testified Rocuba had been a "wonderful grandfather" to her son and said he and Melissa Rocuba did love each other. In an tense exchange with D'Andrea, she acknowledged she did not want to lose her father, too.
Through much of the ordeal, she kept her eyes focused on the attorney asking her questions, and off of her father seated feet away.
Rocuba remains in Lackawanna County Prison. There is no bail in his case.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.
