Sep. 9—A shooting affray took place between game warden Frank “Red” Rowe and two Hungarian foreigners, Adam Ruzgis and Dominick Lebetski on Sept. 7, 1906, on the mountain back of Maffet’s Patch.
Ruzgis and Lebetski had walked down the mountain and stopped to pick wild grapes near the falls of Solomon Creek.
Lebetski was carrying a bag filled with dead rabbits and birds around his shoulder and held a pistol in his hand when Rowe encountered them in the woods of Maffet’s Patch. Today, that is the area of Cook, Fall and Rutz streets in Ashley, Chester Street in today’s Preston section of Hanover Township and into Sugar Notch.
Suddenly, Rowe fired a shot that fatally struck Ruzgis in the back as Lebetski fled.
“Lebetski escaped the rain of bullets and ran to his boarding house a mile distant in Ashley and notified his friends of what had taken place,” reported the Times Leader on Sept. 10, 1906.
When Lebetski informed others about the shooting, he led the posse to the location, finding Ruzgis dead and Rowe and Walters nowhere to be found.
“The affair caused much excitement among the foreign element, and had Rowe and Walters been encountered by the friends of the dead man, there probably would have been more shooting,” the Times Leader reported.
Thirteen hours after Ruzgis was found dead, Rowe and Walters showed up at City Hospital, today’s Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, with gunshot wounds to both their legs.
Upon hearing about the shooting in Maffet’s Patch, Constable John Reilly made an investigation and charged Rowe and Walters with murder on Sept. 10, 1906.
Two days after being charged, Luzerne County President Judge George S. Ferris conducted a Habeas corpus hearing when Rowe and Walters claimed they were shot at and wounded by Ruzgis and Lebetski who, they claimed, were hunting out of season and Rowe shot back in self defense.
Rowe and Walters were held on murder charges following the Habeas hearing on Sept. 12, 1906.
A physician testified during the Habeas hearing that the gunshot wounds to the legs of Rowe and Walters appeared “fresh,” and were not inflicted 13 hours earlier, the Times Leader reported.
Rowe’s trial was held before Judge John Lynch at the Luzerne County Courthouse on Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, on Nov. 14, 1906. It only took four hours to select a jury of 12 men.
“The stories of what occurred differ, the theory of the commonwealth being that Rowe and Walters had absolutely no provocation or excuses to shoot down Ruzgis and shot themselves hours later to build up a self-defense claim,” the Times Leader evening edition reported Nov. 14, 1906.
Lebetski testified they visited a friend who had a small farm on the ridge of Sugar Notch Mountain and started making their way home in Ashley when they stopped to pick grapes and were confronted by Rowe and Walters.
Lebetski’s testimony, including the testimony of a physician that the gunshot wounds to the legs of Rowe and Walters were self-inflicted, were not enough for the jury to convict.
The jury deliberated for six hours, acquitting Rowe of murder.
Walters’ trial was scheduled to begin on Jan. 23, 1907, but Assistant District Attorney Thomas A. Butkiewicz dismissed the murder charge, realizing he did not have sufficient evidence.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
