Lethal Dose

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Talk about a potty mouth.

A Scranton woman who allegedly shouted profanities at her overflowing toilet within earshot of a neighbor was cited for disorderly conduct. Dawn Herb could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $300.

“It doesn’t make any sense. I was in my house. It’s not like I was outside or drunk,” Herb told The Times-Tribune of Scranton. “The toilet was overflowing and leaking down into the kitchen and I was yelling (for my daughter) to get the mop.”

Herb doesn’t recall exactly what she said, but she admitted letting more than a few choice words fly near an open bathroom window Thursday night. Her next-door neighbor, a city police officer who was off-duty at the time, asked her to keep it down, police said. When she continued, the officer called police, who charged Herb with disorderly conduct. Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, took issue with the citation.

“You can’t prosecute somebody for swearing at a cop or a toilet,” she said. “We bring one of these cases a year and sue some police departments because they do not remember that they are not the language police.”

Oh, I wish Judge Wapner was still on! One of my favorite episodes was one I called “Wig in the Toilet.”

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Wow! I have to read the Pennsylvania papers more often - who knew it was so sordid? And the names are just great.

An Eldred Township woman was arrested Tuesday on charges of allegedly soliciting her ex-husband’s girlfriend to try to kill the man by spiking his drink with a drug, according to state police.

Patricia A. Reiman, 42, of 2941 Lick Run Road, was bitter over the divorce initiated by her husband, David, and allegedly solicited Anna Anae to spike the ex-husband’s coffee with cocaine, Trooper Brad Eisenhower said.

“This whole case is very unusual, especially since she (Patricia) would contact the victim’s girlfriend,” Eisenhower admitted after the accused was taken into custody at her home.

Patricia Reiman allegedly bought cocaine for “the sole purpose of giving it to Anae so she would put it in his coffee at breakfast this (Tuesday) morning,” Eisenhower said.

Patricia knew her husband had a heart condition, and she thought the spiked coffee with the cocaine would cause “his heart to possibly explode and kill him,” Eisenhower alleged.

“Patricia Reiman told Anae that she wanted David Reiman to die,” the investigator said.

The case became even more bizarre Tuesday night, police said, when Patricia Reiman’s boyfriend, Richard Allen Kepner, 37, allegedly threatened David Reiman.

Patricia Reiman allegedly began plotting the murder with Anae about a month ago, Eisenhower said, adding that the two women “are friendly with one another.” Unknown to Patricia, Anae was sharing the conversations with David Reiman, Eisenhower said. “The girlfriend played along with it real well,” Eisenhower said. “The girlfriend told the accused that the victim treated her and the kids badly.”

The Reimans were married in 1993 and had shared custody of a 13-year-old child and an adopted 21-month-old toddler following their divorce in the last year Eisenhower said.

“Initially, I think the girlfriend and the victim thought she (Patricia) was joking around, but last week when he (David) overheard a conversation his girlfriend was having with his ex-wife, he realized she was serious, and he called us,” Eisenhower said.

Anae faces no charges because she has been cooperating with police “through this whole thing,” Eisenhower said. Investigators used a wiretap on Friday to record a telephone conversation Anae had with the accused about spiking the victim’s coffee with an unknown drug. The next day, Patricia called Anae and told her that she had obtained the drug, but she never told the woman what the drug was, Eisenhower said.

Again, after police wiretapped Anae’s telephone, the girlfriend called Patricia late Monday afternoon and the two women agreed to meet about an hour later on North Loyalsock Avenue in Montoursville, where Patricia Reiman allegedly handed the drug to Anae, Eisenhower said.

Troopers watched at a distance as the drug transaction took place, Eisenhower said, adding that Anae was wearing a hidden recording device. “The defendant provided Anae with about two grams of cocaine and told her that it was more than a normal person would take. She told her it would create heart palpitations, triggering a heart attack,” Eisenhower said.

After breakfast Tuesday morning at the couple’s home on Losch Lane in Piatt Township, Anae called Patricia Reiman and told the woman that she put the cocaine in David’s coffee and that David was dead, Eisenhower said. This conversation also was recorded, Eisenhower said, but he declined to disclose Patricia’s reaction to the false information.

When she first arrived for her arraignment, Patricia Reiman was calm and collected, but the moment she saw a newspaper photographer, she lost her composure. She sobbed as District Judge Kenneth T. Schriner Jr. read the charges that Eisenhower had filed, which included criminal solicitation to commit murder, criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault, possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of cocaine. Patricia Reiman was automatically committed to the County Prison without bail.

Her boyfriend, Kepner, joined her at the jailed following his arraignment before District Judge James H. Sortman on charges of intimidation of a witness, a felony, terroristic threats and harassment.

“If Patricia goes down because of you, I’m going to kill you. You’re done,” Kepner allegedly told David Reiman.

Lost her composure? No doubt it was because she was caught without makeup!