Michaels on Trial in Lobby Shooting

Both sides agree Michaels fired the shot that killed Roskowski. The jury has to decide whether that was self-defense: prosecutors say he opened a locked door for an unarmed man in poor health, and the defense says earlier assaults and a small lobby left him no choice. No verdict has been reported.

Kenneth Richard Michaels, 68, of Montoursville, is on trial in Lycoming County for criminal homicide and possession of a weapon. A jury of eight women and four men is hearing the case before President Judge Eric Linhardt. No verdict had been reported Wednesday.

Michaels was chief executive of Cable Services, on Marydale Avenue in Old Lycoming Township, just north of Williamsport. Roskowski's father founded the company. John Michael Roskowski, 69, had been its president. On Aug. 17, 2023, he was shot once in the abdomen in the company lobby and died. Michaels admits he fired. He says it was self-defense.

Prosecutors told the jury Roskowski was unarmed, overweight, in poor health, and fitted with a colostomy bag, and that he could not get into the locked building unless someone opened the door. They said Michaels had told staff the day before to call 911 if Roskowski returned, then took a Sig Sauer 9mm from his desk, opened the door, and shot him from two or three feet away. Asked later why he did not use the intercom, Michaels told detectives he had not thought to.

The defense told the jury Roskowski held the doorbell, pushed his way in, and moved toward Michaels in a small lobby after asking whether Michaels was going to shoot him. His lawyers say he fired once. In September 2021, Roskowski knocked the glasses off Michaels' face and was charged with harassment. Court records in a related civil case describe a July 30, 1996 fight that put Michaels in the hospital and led to a charge against Roskowski. Roskowski's son, Adam, told the jury the company later paid his father about $3 million for his shares. Those filings put the buyout in February 2023.

Employees called by the district attorney testified that they were not afraid of Roskowski, and that many of them did not know he had been barred from the property. The trial is still going.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.