Trial scheduled for accused killer

Almost two years after his arrest, accused killer Eric M. Mumaw’s trial will begin in Schuylkill County Court on Nov.12.

Mumaw, 32, Kline Township, is charged with shooting 27-year-old David G. Gombert of Beaver Meadows at Mumaw’s house on the morning of Nov. 1, 2016. According to testimony at previous hearings, hostile Facebook posts escalated a romantic rivalry between Mumaw and Gombert; the woman Gombert was dating was Mumaw’s former girlfriend.

Mumaw is charged with first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, prohibited offensive weapons, possessing an instrument of crime, simple and aggravated assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He has been held without bail in Schuylkill County prison.

During a hearing Friday, with attorneys for the prosecution and defense satisfied that discovery is complete, Judge Charles Miller scheduled the trial, setting aside Nov. 12 to Nov. 22, with jury selection to begin on the 12. Mumaw is represented by Wilkes-Barre attorney Andrew Katsock, and Assistant District Attorney Michael Stine is prosecuting.

Months before Friday’s motions hearing, the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s office sent computer files to Katsock which included the various items for discovery, but Katsock said he had been unable to open the files. Before Friday’s hearing, Stine provided both computer files and hard copies of the information that had been contained on those files, entering all 16 items into evidence.

The majority of the information is from “extraction” reports, gained through forensic analysis by Pennsylvania State Police computer experts. Including are a total of 27 text messages and 520 instant messages, as well as “chain of custody” reports regarding the handling of evidence and summaries of evidence.

In November 2017, Katsock had sought to have statements his client made to police suppressed. Mumaw was interviewed by state police at a Pottsville Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for a gunshot wound to a finger, and subsequently at State Police barracks in Frackville.