In May of 2002, 37-year-old Tammy Lynn Fassett and her boyfriend, Michael Kerkowski, also 37, vanished from his home in Hunlock Township, Pennsylvania. Their disappearance sparked a lengthy investigation that would eventually unearth a story of greed, betrayal, and murder. The couple was last seen on May 3, 2002, and concern grew when Kerkowski, a pharmacist who had pleaded guilty to running a prescription drug ring, missed his sentencing hearing.
The truth of what happened to Fassett
and Kerkowski remained a mystery for over a year. In June 2003, investigators, acting on a tip from an informant, descended upon a property in Kingston Township owned by the girlfriend of Hugo Selenski, a man Kerkowski considered his best friend. In the backyard, they made a grisly discovery: the decomposing bodies of Tammy Fassett and Michael Kerkowski buried in a shallow grave. The cause of death for both was determined to be strangulation with plastic flex ties. The search of Selenski's property would ultimately uncover the remains of at least three other individuals.
The investigation revealed a brutal plot orchestrated by Hugo Selenski and his accomplice, Paul Weakley. The motive was money. Selenski, needing cash to cover a check for the purchase of the Kingston Township house, targeted Kerkowski, who he knew kept large sums of money from his illegal drug enterprise. On the day of the murders, Selenski and Weakley went to Kerkowski's home, where they bound both him and Fassett with duct tape. They tortured Kerkowski, beating him with a rolling pin until he revealed the location of his hidden cash. Fassett was tragically killed simply because she was present during the robbery.
Paul Weakley eventually cooperated with authorities, providing crucial testimony against Selenski. He admitted to his role in the murders and led investigators to the bodies. In exchange for his testimony, Weakley pleaded guilty to federal charges and received a life sentence. Hugo Selenski was charged with the murders of Fassett and Kerkowski. His trial was a long and complex affair, marked by delays. In 2015, a jury found Hugo Selenski guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, robbery, and other offenses. He was spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Selenski's girlfriend at the time, Christina Strom, was also sentenced to prison for her role in laundering the money stolen from Kerkowski.
