Judith 'Judi' Comisky, a 52-year-old female, was found deceased in her Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, home on Thursday, September 16, 2021. Neighbors discovered her body on the kitchen floor of her Willow Street residence. An investigation revealed that she had been stabbed multiple times and possibly shot. The case was quickly ruled a homicide.
Two men, Charles Bierly and James Alberto, both from Wilkes-Barre, were later arrested and charged with her murder.
Investigators determined that the two had conspired to kill Comisky. The motive behind the murder was linked to Alberto, who was Comisky's former roommate. He falsely believed that she was cooperating with a police investigation against him and wanted her killed as a result. Prosecutors stated that Alberto ordered the killing because he thought Comisky would testify against him in a drug-related case.
In May 2023, Charles Bierly pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy to commit homicide, and illegal possession of a firearm. He admitted to stabbing and shooting Comisky and then disposing of the weapons in the Susquehanna River, where they were later recovered by dive teams. Bierly claimed that Alberto had threatened him and his girlfriend, which coerced him into committing the murder.
Following a trial, in November 2023, a jury found James Alberto guilty of first-degree murder and a number of other charges for orchestrating the killing. While Bierly admitted to being the one to physically carry out the attack, the court found Alberto responsible for ordering the murder.
