WOODLAND – A former state trooper shot his estranged wife before turning the shotgun on himself at 10:05 a.m. Thursday inside the County Market grocery store at the Peebles Plaza in Decatur Township, reported Bruce Morris, press information officer for the Pennsylvania State Police, during a news briefing outside the Clearfield-state police barracks.
Mark R. Miscavish, 51, who had retired from the state police in 2011 and who lived in Philipsburg, entered the grocery store around 10 a.m. to search for his estranged wife, Traci A. Miscavish, 49, also of Philipsburg. She was an employee of County Market. Mark Miscavish located her in an upstairs office area and shortly after shot her and then himself.
When asked by press members, Morris could neither confirm where Traci Miscavish was shot nor how many times she had been shot. He also couldn’t confirm where Mark Miscavish shot himself. Morris said he neither had information so far as the type of shotgun used nor how Mark Miscavish came to possess it. He confirmed investigators hadn’t located any other weapons on Mark Miscavish.
When asked, Morris wasn’t certain about what contact the couple had with each other in recent days. In addition, he wasn’t certain whether or not Traci Miscavish had an active protection from abuse order against her estranged husband. However, the Associated Press has reported Traci Miscavish had filed for divorce just days ago, and her estranged husband had been briefly jailed after a Jan. 23 incident for allegedly assaulting her.
Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller disclosed details surrounding the violent assault in a statement published on her Facebook page. She said on Jan. 23, Mark Miscavish pulled a gun on his estranged wife and attempted to duct tape her. She said he only stopped when Traci Miscavish started to get away and ran from the residence. As Mark Miscavish was dragging his estranged wife back inside, Parks Miller said a stranger drove by and came to her aid.
Mark Miscavish waived his right to preliminary hearing on charges of simple assault, terroristic threats and harassment on Jan. 30 before Magisterial District Judge Thomas N. Jordan. After a motion by the defense, Jordan modified Mark Miscavish’s bail to $10,000 unsecured, which permitted him to be released under “intensive supervision.” Mark Miscavish was being privately represented by David Charles Mason Esq., according to court documents.
Parks Miller said they objected the motion for the bail reduction and argued to keep Mark Miscavish incarcerated because of the seriousness of the charges. She said, “We tried to keep him in jail and we failed, because the judge let him out. We failed her and her family. The system completely failed her and she paid the ultimate price.” Parks Miller said they were prepared to take the case to trial, but Traci Miscavish needed to be kept safe.
Parks Miller said in an AP report that Traci Miscavish lived in fear of her 51-year-old estranged husband and believed he was capable of harming her further. Parks Miller told the AP: “She said, ‘The next time I see him is going to be at the end of a gun.
