FRACKVILLE — A Frackville man was charged Friday with killing his father in the home they shared in the borough earlier this year.
Tyler Jesse Swantek, 24, was charged by Frackville Police Chief Richard Bell with one count each of criminal homicide, murder in the first degree and murder in the third degree, two counts of aggravated assault, three counts of simple assault and one count each of lesser offenses of recklessly endangering another person, possessing instruments of crime and abuse of a corpse.
Swantek was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Christina E. Hale, Frackville, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison without bail.
In homicide cases, bail must be set by a county court judge and not at the magisterial district judge level.
Bell charged Tyler Swantek with killing Todd Swantek by shooting him in the head with a high-powered pellet gun at 443 N. Third St. sometime between April 1 and May 24.
In his affidavit of probable cause, Bell said on May 24 Patrolman Tyler Dissinger was called to the property for a welfare check and detected a foul odor from in the home.
Bell said that the man who asked for the welfare check, Vincent Roman, said he was friends with Todd Swantek and had not heard from him since the end of March. Roman said he had previously went to the home at the request of Todd Swantek’s mother who also had not heard from him since the end of March.
Moreover, Bell said Tyler Swantek was not seen at the house since the end of April. Tyler Swantek, meanwhile, had been arrested on drug charges on May 25 and was in the Schuylkill County Prison.
Bell said he and Dissinger entered the home and found a body on a couch on the first floor of the home. The chief said the body was covered in blankets and a sleeping bag and that the head was covered with pillows.
As the blankets and pillows were being removed, Bell said he and Dissinger saw four round holes in the right side of the forehead that were consistent with gunshots. He said authorities immediately obtained a search warrant.
Later, Bell said, the scene was processed by his department, a state police Forensics Services Unit based in Reading and representatives of the Schuylkill County Coroner’s Office.
During a search of the home, Bell said a high-powered Ruger .177 caliber pellet rifle was found in Tyler Swantek’s bedroom and the gun appeared to have blood splatter on the stock and barrel. A canister of pellets was also found in the bedroom that were consistent with the size of the holes in the skull of the body found, he said.
Police also saw numerous scented candles as well as air fresheners throughout the house, a fly strip and blankets placed at the base of exterior doors, Bell said.
The following day, May 25, Bell said Tyler Swantek was read his Miranda Rights at the prison and interviewed about the body in the home.
Tyler Swantek told investigators he left the home on April 27 due to medical conditions and that he was the only person home at the time. Tyler Swantek also reported he did not return to the home after that date though, Bell said.
Bell said he tried to interview Tyler Swantek further about the incident but he said Swantek did not want to continue questioning. Bell said Tyler Swantek showed no reaction to the fact there was a dead body inside the home and that it may be his father.
On May 27, an autopsy was conducted on the body by forensic pathologist Dr. Rameen Roney at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown. Bell said Roney determined the cause of death was due to multiple gunshot wounds to the head and ruled the manner of death homicide.
During the autopsy, numerous pellets were removed and found to be consistent with the pellets found in Tyler Swantek’s bedroom, the chief said.
On May 28, Bell said fingerprints were used to positively identify the body as that of Todd Swantek. From interviews conducted in the investigation, police were told that he and his son had been having ongoing arguments that were becoming more frequent. Tyler Swantek allegedly made statements that he would “kill his father,” Bell said.
Subsequent interviews led police to learn that Tyler Swantek asked a friend to buy him incense and scented candles, not a normal request for him, Bell said. It was also learned that Tyler Swantek would not allow people inside the home since the middle of April, also not normal for the 24-year-old, Bell said.
Bell said that on June 5, the body of Todd Swantek was taken to Mercyhurst Forensic Anthropology Laboratory for examination by Dr. Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist, to determine the time frame of death due to the decomposition.
On July 14, Bell said he received a report from Dirkmaat that stated the decomposition suggested the death occurred eight months or less — but most likely three months or less — from the time it was discovered. It was also determined that the direction of the pellet fired was from front to back and trauma was found in the frontal bone and right orbital region of the skull.
Bell said that, during the investigation, he received telephone records of Todd Swantek and found the last outgoing text message was on April 2 and that beginning on April 3 there was no outgoing activity and all text messages went unanswered.
The chief said he also secured a search warrant for Tyler Swantek’s cellphone that revealed the man had fairly regular contact with his father until March 29 including 33 outgoing and incoming telephone calls and 88 SMS text messages.
“As of March 29, 2017, there is no communication between the two of them via calls or text messaging,” Bell wrote.
Hale scheduled a preliminary hearing for Tyler Swantek for 9 a.m. Aug. 3 at the Schuylkill County Courthouse.
After his arraignment on the homicide charges, Swantek appeared in county court asking for a bail reduction in a separate case.
However, Judge Charles M. Miller declined to cut Swantek’s $100,000 straight cash bail in the second case, in which Swantek is charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one each of possession of drug paraphernalia, manufacture of a controlled substance and public drunkenness. He was arrested on those charges, also on May 25.
“We’re not going to reduce it,” Miller said. “He’s a danger to himself and society.”
Frackville police had charged Swantek in that case with possessing drugs and paraphernalia on April 20 in the borough.
Assistant District Attorney David J. Rice opposed the reduction due to the homicide charges.
“The landscape has changed dramatically,” Rice said.
Contact the writer: fandruscavage@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6013