Pocono News Section

Graphic Testimony at Triple Murder Hearing

Graphic Testimony at Triple Murder Hearing - Friday, September 19, 2008 at 5:53PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Friday, Sep 19, 2008 @ 05:53pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- A man charged with killing three people had his day in court Friday. Details of the gruesome South Scranton murders were revealed during a preliminary hearing for 25-year-old Randal Rushing. The judge ruled there was enough evidence to send the case to trial.

Rushing is accused of killing two men and a teenager at a Scranton home in July. Prosecutors say it is one of the most brutal crimes ever committed in our area.

Detectives converged on a home at 1604 South Irving Avenue on July 17th. Three dead bodies were inside, including 22-year-old Dustin Hintz, 20-year-old Justine Berrios, and 16-year-old Leslie Collier. All of them were beaten with a hammer and stabbed.

Randal Rushing was arrested a short time later in Wilkes-Barre. Witnesses say Rushing lived in the Scranton house with all of the victims and killed them out of anger.

Rushing’s ex-girlfriend Samantha Hintz testified that Rushing really targeted Barrios, the father of her 2-year-old son, who was also in the house that day but was unharmed.

Rushing suspected that she and Barrios were getting together again. The day of the killings Hintz said Rushing was waiting on the front porch and said, “I have a surprise for you in your baby's room.”

Her 2-year-old son was upstairs. The baby was fine, but he showed her the body of Justin Barrios on the floor covered with a blanket. Rushing then pulled out a gun and said, "I'm doing this because now I have the power."

He then tied her up and left her on the bed. She was able to call 9-1-1 by dialing the cell phone with her feet, which were still bound with a belt.

She also testified that Rushing told her, “I bodied the other people, maybe I should body some more,” and then left the house. She also said she never saw Rushing so angry or behave so out of control.

Another witness who was tied up that day, Hintz’s mother, testified that she heard Rushing using a hammer to beat the victims. She feared he would come back and killer her.

Lackawanna County Coroner Joe Brennan testified and showed pictures of the victims. All of them had shattered skulls and were stabbed over and over again.

Following the hearing, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola said, “Obviously we believe we have a strong case a jury will decide that in the end."

Defense lawyer Paul Ackourey does not deny his client committed the horrible crimes, but he may have had an underlying reason. "What the testimony clearly established today was that Mr. rushing was suffering under some mental health circumstances that may lead us to explain why this ever occurred," he said.

Jarbola has not yet said if he will seek the death penalty. He will make that announcement at Rushing's formal court arraignment in several weeks. That's when Rushing has to plead guilty or not guilty.