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, including criminal homicide, held for Schuylkill County Court action.
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.
State police allege 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.
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.