ORWIGSBURG - After helping to tie Bryan R. Smith to a tree in May in South Manheim Township, Keith A. Reber returned about 20 hours later to find him dead, a state police corporal said Thursday at the defendant's preliminary hearing.
" 'He was cold. He wasn't moving. He was stiff,' " is how Reber said he found Smith, Cpl. Steven M. Schmit testified while Reber watched.
At the end of the 3 1/2-hour hearing in a courtroom where about 20 friends and family members of the victim and defendant filled the seats, Magisterial District Judge James R. Ferrier ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to support all charges against Reber, 48, of Schuylkill Haven, and he ordered those charges held for Schuylkill County Court action.
Those charges include criminal homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful restraint, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence, possession of firearm with altered manufacturer's number and seven counts of conspiracy.
Earlier, Reber's alleged co-conspirator, Daniel W. Dull, 25, of 115 Station Road, Orwigsburg, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on charges that include criminal homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence and seven counts of conspiracy. Ferrier bound over those charges for the county court.
The men returned to the county prison, where each is being held without bail pending county court action, after their appearances at Ferrier's office.
State police at Schuylkill Haven have alleged that about 3 a.m. May 28, Dull and Reber took Smith, 26, of Orwigsburg, to 294 Meadow Drive, Reber's home, marched him to a secluded wooded area, bound him to a tree and left him to die.
"His face was facing into the dirt. His right arm was extended up," Deputy Coroner James Nettles, who pronounced Smith dead, testified as to how he found the body. "I could tell there was rigor. I could see there was no life in the individual."
Reber repeatedly bowed his head during the hearing, at which prosecutors sought to demonstrate that he was punishing Smith for allegedly stealing from his girlfriend, Lisa Keller.
"He said, 'I wanted to teach him a lesson,' " and that it was his idea to tie Smith to a tree, Schmit testified.
However, Reber was quite different when he arrived at the Schuylkill Haven borough police about 3 a.m. May 29 to tell what had occurred.
"He had his head down, he was crying," as he told the story, Schuylkill Haven borough police Sgt. Robert W. Phillips testified about Reber's behavior. "He did indicate ... he never intended to hurt the victim."
Schmit testified Reber told him that Smith "was really messed up" and never tried to escape, but that he also put a gag in the victim's mouth in order to prevent him from screaming and so no one would know he was there. He said the flex cuffs, a type of handcuff, that Dull and Reber used were found with Smith's wallet in a bag on a pile of items to be burned at Reber's house.
Nettles testified the autopsy listed the cause of Smith's death as delirium from methamphetamine, but with his being tied to a tree as a contributing cause. Frederick J. Fanelli, Pottsville, Reber's lawyer, argued that prosecutors had not definitely shown that tying Smith to a tree, as opposed to his methamphetamine use, caused his death.
"There's not enough evidence to prove it" to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, Fanelli told Ferrier.
Furthermore, Fanelli said, the evidence showed that Smith agreed to go to the woods and be tied to a tree, thereby consenting to the actions. Why Smith might have wanted to do that is irrelevant and not something Reber has to prove, according to Fanelli.
"While this is a terrible tragedy, there is no crime," Fanelli argued.
However, Assistant District Attorney Michael A. O'Pake, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant District Attorney Rebecca A. Elo, successfully argued that the evidence showed multiple crimes occurred.
"I'm not sure in what world a vigilante like Mr. Reber thinks he has a right to do that," O'Pake said.
Furthermore, tying someone to a tree shows both an intent to terrorize and an extreme indifference to the value of human life, according to O'Pake.
"Mr. Reber's own words were he wanted to scare him," O'Pake said.
Fanelli declined to comment on the case after Ferrier ordered the charges against his client held for court. O'Pake said the judge's ruling was correct.
"The evidence speaks for itself, and the appropriate decision was made," O'Pake said.Defendant: Keith A. Reber
Age: 48
Residence: Schuylkill Haven
Charges: Criminal homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful restraint, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence, possession of firearm with altered manufacturer's number and seven counts of conspiracy.
Defendant: Daniel W. Dull
Age: 25
Residence: Orwigsburg
Charges: Criminal homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, tampering with evidence and seven counts of conspiracy