EVANS CITY — A Pittsburgh man, who police said was shot after trying to kill his wife's lover, is one step closer to a jury trial.

Mark W. Shearer Jr., 49, formerly of Evans City, was brought Tuesday before District Judge Wayne Seibel from the Butler County Prison.

Seibel reaffirmed the lack of bail following two preliminary hearings.

“Right now, I have a true concern for other people, including Mr. Shearer himself,” Seibel said. “There's a hole here, and I don't want to see you go deeper.”

Shearer appeared for four preliminary hearings, but only two related to the incidents leading to his shooting Oct. 30.

In one case filed July 9, Shearer is charged with misdemeanor terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct after he allegedly made multiple threats to his estranged wife, Dawn Shearer.

In the other case filed Nov. 1, Shearer is charged with attempted homicide; felony aggravated assault, burglary, trespass, theft, possession of stolen property and possession of a gun; and misdemeanor terroristic threats, criminal mischief, drug possession and drug paraphernalia possession. According to police, those charges stem from the night of Oct. 30, when Shearer entered his estranged wife's home and held a gun to the head of her boyfriend, Joe Czernics.

Although all charges have moved forward to the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Shearer's attorney, Carl Marcus, made arguments for some charges to be removed or reduced.

Marcus argued for the attempted homicide charge and the aggravated assault charges to either be dismissed or amended to assault with a deadly weapon.“The commonwealth is saying pointing the gun at Mr. Czernics was a substantial step toward murder,” Marcus said. “He never fires a gun, and as a result, he's the one who's shot.”Marcus also referenced cross-examination of Dawn Shearer, who testified as a witness in the case. She said she could see the gun in Shearer's right hand as he held it to Czernics' head, but she couldn't make out the placement of his fingers.Investigating officer Michael Podolec of the Evans City-Seven Field Regional Police also testified the pistol was found with the safety on. It was also noted the gun, which belonged to Dawn Shearer, had one chambered round and six rounds in the magazine when found.“The gun was never taken off safe,” Marcus said. “If (killing) was his intent, he could have pulled the trigger at any time.”Assistant District Attorney David Beichner said the arguments presented by Marcus were beyond the scope of a preliminary hearing, which only examines whether there is enough evidence present for a jury trial.Beichner said Shearer entered his estranged wife's home without permission, stole her gun from her purse, barged into a room, held a gun to Czernics' head and threatened to kill him.“There were steps taken toward homicide,” Beichner said. “The defendant did not have the opportunity to carry it out because Mr. Czernics defended himself.”During her testimony, Dawn Shearer had given her account of the night her boyfriend shot her estranged husband. During multiple points of her testimony, Dawn Shearer choked with emotion, and at one point she needed to stop altogether to use an inhaler.“He held a gun to Joe's head, and he said, 'I'll blow your head off,'” Dawn Shearer said.She said after Shearer held a gun to Czernics' head, the boyfriend managed to make a move for his own gun and fired two shots. Those shots hit Mark Shearer in the shoulder and the leg, according to Podolec.Podolec said he later visited Shearer in the hospital, where he admitted to entering the home through the back door and holding a gun to Czernics' head.Seibel also considered testimony along with evidence submitted from the other case he heard Tuesday, involving multiple threats in the months leading up to the incident.“We don't know what would have happened if Mr. Czernics hadn't defended himself,” said Seibel before his decision. “That is a question for a jury.”

In the case related to the threats, the defense also presented arguments for dismissal, after Marcus claimed the threats were not clear enough.“I don't think these threats were made to terrorize her,” Marcus said.According to Dawn Shearer, the threats began after she served him divorce papers in May. She said she subsequently asked Shearer to leave, and in August she removed him from the lease of the rental they once shared. This is the same home where the shooting took place on Main Street in Evans City.Dawn Shearer said she received multiple threats by text and call.“(He said) if he saw me with somebody, he would shoot them in the head,” Dawn Shearer said.The prosecution presented two pages of text messages to the court, depicting these threats in which Mark Shearer is identified by phone number.Shearer was identified again by phone numbers in reference to a voicemail he left, which was also played in court. Dawn Shearer said her estranged husband had two phones he used regularly.She said she did not actively record the audio and insisted it came from her voicemail. She said she believes he called her with both phones. She said the first call went into her voicemail while she picked up the second call. She said her estranged husband forgot to hang up the first call, and that's how the voicemail was left.In court, only about five seconds was played of a voicemail that was about three minutes in length.“I'm going to blow your (expletive) brains out (expletive),” said the voice, alleged to be Shearer.Despite Marcus' argument, Seibel said there was enough evidence for the charges to move forward.“I have to look at the evidence today in a light most favorable to the commonwealth,” Seibel said.The same text messages in the threat case were also presented in the attempted homicide case. It was also noted in that case that a threat was made one day before the incident.Beichner had Dawn Shearer read one particular message in a chain of messages aloud.“Nevermind, I don't want to know because I will kill him,” Mark Shearer allegedly texted.

Shearer had four preliminary hearings scheduled Tuesday.For one, he pleaded guilty to a traffic violation for driving with a suspended license.Shearer then waived his right to a preliminary hearing related to a first-offense, controlled substance DUI filed Nov. 9. The charge stems from a Sept. 5 traffic stop by state police.During both of the hearings, multiple references were made about Shearer's drug use.During her testimony, Dawn Shearer accused her estranged husband of being an addict, and later during a request for bond to be set, Marcus said his client wants to be bonded into a treatment facility.Since Seibel denied the bond, Shearer's next chance for a bond to be set would be at the county level, where he is scheduled to appear Feb. 7 for a formal arraignment on both sets of charges.