A man who stole guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition before firing 21 shots into his ex-girlfriend's home last month will be tried in Blair County for attempted homicide, aggravated assault and other offenses.
Magisterial District Judge Steven D. Jackson heard six hours of testimony Thursday from Joseph Olecki's estranged girlfriend, Kristi Hollen, his best friend, Wayne Farabaugh, and Logan Township police officer Mathew Lindsey before finding there was enough evidence to hold him for trial.
It was an emotional hearing as Hollen and Olecki teared up when defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey asked Hollen if she believed Olecki still loved her.
She answered "yes" as her eyes reddened and Olecki squeezed back the tears in his eyes.
The subject of the hearing was not the couple's decade-long relationship but the violent end to the affair.
Hollen had asked the 33-year-old Olecki to leave their home at 633 Drexel Lane.
He was in the process of moving out March 14 when the two became embroiled in an argument.
She said Olecki used his fist to punch holes in the wall of the hallway and the bedroom. She said he was "mad, angry ... yelling."
That night, he called her at 9:10 p.m. stating he was in Scranton - his hometown - and told her she could keep his "stuff" because he wouldn't need it where he was going.
When she asked where he was going, he said he was going to kill himself and she "would be in the prairie with him."
The shooting at Drexel Lane occurred an hour later, and set off a manhunt by police who learned that Olecki had stolen nine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from Farabaugh, his friend and boss at Lenny's Classic Car Collection, a garage on Valley Avenue.
Farabaugh, an ex-Marine, said he and Olecki would go shooting together at a tree stand he had on Black Snake Mountain.
Within an hour after the March 15 shooting, Olecki called Farabaugh for help and Farabaugh met Olecki near Newry. Olecki was driving a white truck from Lenny's, a truck that police were looking for.
At gunpoint Olecki demanded Farabaugh give him a place to stay for the night. Olecki threaten to kill his family if he didn't, Farabaugh testified.
Farabaugh said he allowed Olecki to stay in a shed on his property. The next day the two parted but Olecki kept in contact with Farabaugh by cell phone March 15 and early on the 16.
Logan Township was able to track Olecki March 16 and police finally took him into custody that morning, Lindsey said.
He was driving a silver Lexus SUV from Lenny's and had guns, ammunition and pipe bombs in his possession.
Dickey said Olecki was not trying to kill Hollen, just scare her.
"If he wanted her dead, he easily could have done it," Dickey said.
Assistant District Attorney Ilissa Zimmerman argued that the shooting into the home, even though he didn't kill Hollen, met the legal requirements for attempted homicide.
Jackson refused to lower Olecki's $300,000 bail.
Scranton police meanwhile continue to investigate a shooting that occurred next door to Olecki's parents home in Scranton late March 15 when two neighbors were wounded. Olecki remains a suspect in that shooting.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
