POTTSVILLE — Matthew Marchalk did not flinch Thursday as he testified to what prosecutors say was the scene of his father’s killing on Father’s Day in his Ryan Township home, a killing his brother is charged with committing.
“I could see there was blood all over his bed,” Matthew said about his discovery of the body of Gary D. Marchalk on June 19 in Barnesville.
Michael D. Marchalk, 37, of Barnesville, did not react while his brother not only described the scene but also told of the alleged bad relationship between Gary and the defendant, brought on at least in part by the latter’s drug use.
“For years, they didn’t get along,” Matthew testified. “My dad basically told him he had to go to rehab. (Michael) said before he had thought about killing him.”
Matthew’s testimony helped Magisterial District Judge Christina E. Hale conclude that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to support all charges against Michael during the 50-minute preliminary hearing.
At the end of the hearing, Hale ordered all charges — criminal homicide, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, robbery, theft, possessing instruments of crime and two counts of access device fraud — held for court. After that, Michael returned to prison, where he is being held without bail, wearing the same prison jumpsuit, leg shackles, handcuffs and belt he had worn during the hearing.
While walking from the courtroom back to prison, Michael said he did not mean to kill his father but will have to live with the guilt.
State police at Frackville have charged Michael Marchalk with killing Gary Marchalk — a prominent lawyer and former assistant district attorney whose widow is county Treasurer Linda L. Marchalk — by beating him with a baseball bat on June 18 at the residence they shared at 21 Pear St., Barnesville.
“He made a couple statements ... if he could trade places with his father, he would,” Trooper Eric Schaeffer, who brought Michael back from Atlantic County, New Jersey, testified about the defendant’s statements during the ride back to Schuylkill County. “He’s sorry, there was no excuse for what he did.”
Police arrested Michael on June 23 on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, where they said he had fled after killing his father. He was brought back to Schuylkill County and arraigned on June 30.
Gary died of blunt force trauma, and his death was a homicide, Deputy Coroner David Truskowsky testified.
“I observed him face down, bloody, with blood spatter all over the room,” said Truskowsky, who also pronounced Gary dead.
Matthew also testified he had “a really bad feeling” when he saw his father’s truck, which Michael had been driving, in the driveway. He said he had gone to his father’s office in Tamaqua, where he had learned Gary had not appeared for a hearing, something he said was completely out of character.
State police Cpl. David Dupree of the forensic services unit at the Reading station testified the scene at Gary’s house was gruesome.
“I did notice what appeared to be blood spatter. I did notice a large amount of blood under his head,” he said. “There was what appeared to be dried blood on that baseball bat.”
Dupree, who photographed and made a video of the scene, said the body was in the master bedroom, where the ceiling and all four walls were stained with blood. He said there was no difficulty in finding it.
“It was a significant amount (of blood),” he said. “I didn’t have to look very hard to see.”
State police Trooper Joseph W. Hall, the prosecuting officer, testified there were items missing from the house.
“We could not locate his wallet, his credit cards ... and also his gold Ford Fusion,” Hall, a former Shenandoah police chief, said.
Hall also said Gary’s bank cards had been used in Tamaqua, New Tripoli, Fogelsville and Philadelphia. Michael appeared in security videos at a bank in New Tripoli and a bus station in Philadelphia, according to Hall.
Schaeffer said Michael told him he did not want to be “dope sick,” or going through a withdrawal, while in rehab, but he was unable to find heroin. Michael said he asked for money from Gary, who would not give it to him.
Neither Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher P. Phillips, who is prosecuting the case along with Deputy Attorney General Rebecca A. Elo, a former county assistant district attorney, nor Assistant Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, Michael’s lawyer, had any comment after the hearing.
Contact the writer: pbortner@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6014.
Defendant: Michael D. Marchalk
Age: 37
Residence: Barnesville
Charges: Criminal homicide, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, robbery, theft, possessing instrument of crime and two counts of access device fraud