Retrial Set For Woman Accused Of Trying To Kill 2 Kids, Self
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - Jury selection begins Monday for the retrial of a woman accused of having tried to kill herself and her two young children by piping vehicle exhaust into her car in a Pennsylvania bus station parking lot.
Thirty-four-year-old Melissa Ann Scholl is charged with attempted murder in Luzerne County, where jurors in June deliberated for seven hours but were unable to reach a verdict.
Prosecutors accused her of a "dramatic, self-centered, narcissistic" murder-suicide plan, saying she drove the 7-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl to the lot in December 2015 and strung a hose from the exhaust pipe to a window. A passer-by pulled the hose from the exhaust and called police.
The defense argued that she was simply reaching out for help and had no intention of harming her children.
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