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Suspect returned to county

LISBON – The girlfriend of murder suspect Nicholas Carosiello has been returned to Columbiana County.

Martina L. Michael, 21, of Chester, W.Va., was transported Friday from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh, where she had been held since her July 25 arrest at the Pittsburgh International Airport, where she worked.

Michael is charged with two counts of obstructing justice and three counts of complicity to tamper with evidence for allegedly lying to county sheriff’s detectives investigating the August 2011 shooting death of Holly Carosiello.

Michael is the girlfriend of Carosiello’s estranged husband, Nicholas J. Carosiello, 32, who was arrested the same day at their home in Chester and charged with aggravated murder in his spouse’s death, plus tampering with evidence and drug possession. Nicholas Carosiello has also been extradited and is currently sitting in the county jail while awaiting arraignment on Thursday in county Common Pleas Court.

The shooting occurred on Aug. 12, 2012, at home of Nicholas Carosiello’s stepfather, Richard L. Lewis, on Township Line Road in Madison Township. Lewis, 60, was also arrested the same day as the other two and is charged with obstructing official business by lying to investigators.

The Carosiellos were separated at the time, and Nicholas Carosiello was living at the residence. According to previous court proceedings involving other defendants, it was revealed that Holly Carosiello, 22, and others were in the process of breaking into Lewis’ home when she was shot. Investigators allege they were looking for marijuana and money.

Holly’s brother, James Adkins, reportedly lifted his sister up to peer into a window when she was shot in the head. Adkins, 30, is serving a 10-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, burglary and complicity to burglary for his role, but no one had been charged until recently with actually doing the shooting.

Johnny P. Paroda Jr., 22, who was accused of helping set up the burglary and then tipping off Nicholas Carosiello, faces eight years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges.

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