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Pocono News Section
Woman Explains How Family Fight Led to Father's Day Killing
Woman Explains How Family Fight Led to Father's Day Killing - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 6:00PM EST
Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009 @ 06:00pm EST
BETHLEHEM, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY - A father shot his son to death after a Father's Day argument in the Poconos. It happened on Adams Road in Jackson Township.
Police say Bernard Uckele shot his son to death. Justin Uckele was 19 years old.
Justin was preparing to welcome his own son into the world in October. Eyewitness News spoke to the baby's mother Jacqueline Martinez. She said Justin was a wonderful man who was excited to become a father. She dated him for about two years and is five months pregnant with their son.
Police say Bernard murdered Justin after a family argument. Jacqueline was there. Tears poured down her face as she described the deadly afternoon. She cried, "I hear Justin pull into the driveway and I hear a car door slam. Within not ten seconds later I heard a gunshot and I knew my boyfriend was dead. I asked his father 'did you shoot him' and he said 'yeah because of you.'"
Jacqueline said Bernard blamed her for a causing a family fight. The argument started back on Thanksgiving. Justin spent the holiday with her family rather than his own. That upset some family members so much that they stopped speaking to him. "This happens every time there is a family event," said Jacqueline.
In retaliation a family member recently told Justin and Jacqueline they weren't invited to a graduation party. She and Justin's sister Jenna argued about that on Sunday. Jacqueline said Bernard eventually got involved in the heated argument. She said, "He attacked me. He threw me against the wall and hit me."
So Jacqueline called police and Justin. He left his job as a temp worker at Sanofi Pasteur and rushed home. She said, "He said I'm not gonna let them get away with this. They're not gonna hit the mother of my child."
Police say Justin then pulled into the garage where his father shot him from just three feet away. "I never thought he'd kill his own son - like his flesh and blood," said Jacqueline.
It was a much different Father's Day than Jacqueline had planned. She wanted to give Josh his first Father's Day card with a photo of their son inside and then go for a nice dinner. But she cried, "Now I'm sitting here wishing Justin would come home, thinking it's all a dream."
Jacqueline said she was shocked Bernard would kill his son. She said he allowed her and Justin to live in his house. He was helping them find a new place and even paid his son's car payments.
Eyewitness News called the Uckele family for comment but they declined to speak with us. | | |
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