Walter Zolner III is charged with murdering his neighbor in Kingston.
By James Halpin | CITIZENSVOICE.COM
The mother of a Kingston man who was bludgeoned to death with a crowbar has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the alleged killer and his mother.
Walter Zolner III, 32, is currently awaiting trial on murder charges alleging he killed 22-year-old Ryan W. Padovani in Padovani’s home at 126 E. Bennett St. on May 4, 2023. Zolner lived in the other side of the half-double home, at 124 E. Bennett St., and gained access to the neighboring unit through the shared attic, according to prosecutors.
The complaint filed Tuesday by attorney Jamie Anzalone, of the Wilkes-Barre law firm Anzalone & Doyle Trial Lawyers, alleges negligence and wrongful death on the part of Zolner and his mother, Amy Beth Llewellyn-Zolner, for allowing unfettered access between the two halves of the double-block home.
The home was owned by Zolner’s late father, who “never restricted access to the 126 side of the property to his son and accused murderer, Walter Zolner III,” Anzalone wrote in the complaint.
In fact, Zolner had access to the neighboring property via the attic door as well as a key to Padovani’s unit that his father gave him for purposes of maintaining the property, the lawsuit alleges.
Zolner’s father died on July 3 and is not named a party to the suit.
Padovani’s mother, Pamela Padovani, of Wilmington, Delaware, is seeking unspecified damages to be determined at trial.
Zolner claimed he was possessed by demons when he bludgeoned Padovani, whose body was found in a second-floor bedroom of his home on May 5, 2023. There was blood spatter throughout the room and on the ceiling, along with bloody footprints that prompted police to look to the attic as the killer’s point of entry.
Investigators say Zolner, who had been exhibiting irrational behavior and spouting delusional thoughts about demons, had a journal in which he admitted killing Padovani as well as the crowbar suspected of being used in the murder, two AR-15-style rifles, a shotgun, a semi-automatic pistol, about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, survival gear and homemade ballistic armor.
Zolner’s trial has delayed while his defense team had his mental health evaluated.
He is currently scheduled to stand trial on murder charges before Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough with jury selection starting Nov. 1.