Chester County woman may be retried for conspiring to kill husband

A Chester County woman accused of conspiring with her lover to kill her husband can be retried, a county court judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Thomas G. Gavin rejected a defense contention that double jeopardy should bar the retrial of Morgan M. Mengel, 36, of West Goshen, calling the motion a "frivolous" delay tactic. Mengel's first trial ended with a mistrial in early February after a police officer repeated a comment by Mengel's father that his daughter "could be despicable."

Defense attorneys, led by Jack McMahon, successfully argued that hearing such "character assassination" irrevocably tainted the jury. McMahon further asserted that by eliciting the comment, Assistant District Attorney Deborah S. Ryan committed prosecutorial misconduct that should result in a dismissal of the charges. Gavin disagreed.

Mengel, a mother of three children, is accused of plotting with Stephen Shappell, 22, of Broomall, to kill Kevin Mengel Jr., 33, on June 17, 2010. Prosecutors said the pair attempted to poison the victim by spiking his juice with liquid nicotine. When the toxin failed to take effect, Shappell, who worked for the Mengels' landscaping business, fatally bludgeoned his employer with three company shovels.

"I'm just hoping the case gets listed for trial as soon as possible for the sake of the victim's family," said Patrick Carmody, the lead prosecutor.

McMahon could not be reached for comment.

In his 14-page opinion, Gavin said his decision hinged on whether Ryan elicited the prejudicial remark to cause a mistrial. The judge said it was clear that Ryan intentionally elicited the comment, but not to sabotage the trial. In fact, Gavin noted that the prosecution's evidence, including texts between the defendant and Shappell before, during, and after the murder, "was devastating to the defense."

Ryan erroneously believed the statement was admissible and had no reason to end the case, the judge wrote. "The evidence had gone in smoothly, the commonwealth witnesses had withstood cross-examination, the jury was attentive, and, from my observation, favorably impressed by the commonwealth's evidence," Gavin wrote. "There was no upside for the commonwealth in doing anything to provoke a mistrial."

Calling the prosecution's case "strong," the judge said "by no stretch of the most fertile imagination could an objective viewer of the evidence conclude that there had been an inadequate prosecution in need of rescue."

When the case is retried, Shappell, who pleaded guilty in December and received a 40- to 80-year prison term, is expected to testify against his former paramour.