Posted on June 22, 2010

Cops: Man Killed Wife

Sherry Long, Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre), June 21, 2010

A grandfather with a history of domestic violence spent Father’s Day in jail Sunday after police charged him with killing his wife with a spear in their city home late Saturday night during an argument over holiday plans.

An immigrant from Africa, Harun Ngolo, 65, was charged with homicide, simple assault and two counts of aggravated assault by Wilkes-Barre police and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office. He allegedly killed his wife, 62-year-old Maria Jeringa Ngolo, stabbed his adult son, Moses Ngolo and cut his 3-year-old grandson, Noah Cobin, shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday at their Simpson Street home in South Wilkes-Barre.

Maria Ngolo had at least one protection-from-abuse order against her husband in the past. Moses Ngolo, believed to be 28, told police he wanted to move out of his parents’ home, yet stayed at his mother’s request because she feared her husband’s past history of domestic violence.

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District Judge Daniel O’Donnell ordered Harun Ngolo held without bail in the county prison during the 15-minute arraignment Sunday in the judge’s Sugarloaf Township office. Harun Ngolo is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday in Central Court.

“Because of the nature of the charge, it is not bailable,” O’Donnell told the 5-foot-tall man, a native of Zaire, now known as the Republic of Congo, in Central Africa.

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Officers were dispatched to the home for a fight between a father and son at 11:38 p.m. Saturday. Once they arrived they found Moses Ngolo with stab wounds to his chest and stomach on the first floor.

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Police said a bloody Harun Ngolo was found standing over his wife, who was also covered in blood after being stabbed many times.

The Ngolos’ 3-year-old grandson was on the bed bloodied with cuts to his legs. The alleged murder weapon, a long wooden pole with a knife attached, was found at the base of the bed on the floor.

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Court documents show Harun Ngolo had a history of family violence.

An arrest affidavit dated Dec. 22, 2007, stated Harun Ngolo was arrested after chasing Maria and Moses Ngolo around the home with a weapon similar to the one he allegedly used Saturday. During the 2007 incident, Harun Ngolo fastened a steak knife to the end of a 3-foot metal poll and chased the family through their Simpson Street home.

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In late February 2007, Harun Ngolo was arrested on charges he assaulted his wife and Moses with a hammer and garden tool. The disposition of that case could not be determined Sunday.

He also pleaded guilty in June 2004 to a summary count of harassment in Wilkes-Barre. No further information regarding that incident or possible victims was available.

The Ngolos came to the United States in 1993 as political refugees, according to a Times Leader feature story done on them 17 years ago.

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