Preliminary Hearing Continued for Man Charged in Cecil Homicide

The preliminary hearing for a Cecil Township man charged with stabbing his wife to death in their Papp Road residence last month has been scheduled for Feb. 2.

The Washington County Court Administrator's office said Tuesday that the hearing set for Richard Allen Dunkovich, 56, was originally scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday but had been continued.

The Cecil Township man has remained in Washington County Jail since Christmas Day, when he was released from Allegheny General Hospital -- where he had been treated for stab wounds suffered during the Dec. 11 incident.

Richard Dunkovich, 56, husband of homicide victim Brenda Gaye Dunkovich, was arraigned by District Judge Valarie Costanzo on a single count of homicide after he was released from the Pittsburgh hospital.

Dunkovich was first arraigned on the charge in his bed at the hospital, where a state police incident report indicated he had been taken by ambulance the night his wife was killed.

Brenda Dunkovich had been pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy revealed her death was the result of a stab wound to the heart. It was ruled a homicide.

A search warrant issued in the case indicates that when police forced entry into the Papp Road residence of Brenda Dunkovich in response to her 911 call, they discovered her lying dead in an upstairs bedroom, with her bleeding husband on the floor nearby.

The document also revealed that police found a Taser, a knife and an axe in that upstairs bedroom -- as well as a loaded .380 pistol and cattle prod outside.

The affidavit, signed Dec. 11 by District Judge Joshua P. Kanalis, also reveals police twice asked Richard Dunkovich who was responsible for the assault -- and that twice he pointed to the body of his wife.