Slaying suspect commits suicide
A former Fayette County resident accused of murdering an Allegheny County man in an Addison motel committed suicide Saturday in Somerset County Prison. William Jerome Cornell, 38, of Naples, Fla., was found unresponsive in his holding cell shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, according to Somerset County Prison officials.
The Somerset County Coroner’s office said Cornell died as a result of asphyxiation by hanging.
The former Connellsville resident had been charged with criminal homicide in the death of Vincent Ross Spadaro, 51, of 3708 Wood St., West Mifflin.
State police in Uniontown had been involved in the investigation because Maryland State Police had determined that Cornell had fled from an Addison home to a Connellsville residence following the slaying.
Two men had discovered Spadaro’s body in a wooded area off a dirt road on March 3, about eight miles from the motel in Friendsville, Md.
Cornell, who had been living at the motel for about a month, also was charged before Magisterial District Judge Susan Mankamyer of Boswell with aggravated assault, theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence, police said.
He was being held without bail at the prison while awaiting a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Sandra Stevanus of Confluence.
According to Maryland police, two men riding all-terrain vehicles near the state line discovered Spadaro’s body around 4 p.m. Saturday.
Police said the men stopped to check out an unoccupied car that was sitting in the middle of Guard Road, a gravel road off Frazee Road.
The men told police that they saw what appeared to be blood in the car and then walked around the area and found Spadaro’s body in the snow nearby.
Spadaro worked in Garrett County, Md., during the week, according to police, and had not been heard from by his family for four days before his body was discovered.
Police said Spadaro worked on computers for Phoenix Technologies in Accident, Md.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Spadaro allegedly confronted Cornell about loud music and noise coming from Cornell’s room at the motel.
Cornell and Spadaro were staying in adjacent rooms at the motel, police said.
Cornell told police that Spadaro confronted him with a knife about the noise and that he killed Spadaro in self-defense, police said.
Spadaro’s throat was slashed and he was stabbed and bled to death, police said.
According to the complaint, police doubted Cornell’s story about self-defense because they said he cleaned up the murder scene, hid Spadaro’s clothes and drove Spadaro’s car and body over the state line and abandoned them in a remote area.
Police said after he dumped Spadaro’s body, Cornell went to a friends home in Addison, burned his clothes, changed into clean clothes and got a ride back to the motel.
From there, police said Cornell caught another ride to Connellsville where he had family and friends.