Police: ‘Love triangle’ leads to death of Smithfield man
A 45-year-old Smithfield man was shot to death after state police said he became caught up in a lethal love triangle.
State police said Wiley Estill Gambrel, 58, of 31A Nutt Ave. in Uniontown admitted to shooting James Plance in the head with a rifle. Deana Hughes, 33, of 280 Ringer Rd. in Smithfield admitted she helped Gambrel clean up the crime scene and move the body, according to police.
Police became involved when a woman called 911 at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday saying her niece, Hughes, came to her residence saying her boyfriend, Plance, was shot and killed at her Ringer Road residence. Hughes called police about 15 minutes later, saying someone just shot her boyfriend in her home, according to state police.
Troopers reported that when they were interviewing Hughes it “was evident” that the shooting occurred “much earlier” in the morning and that the body was moved. Troopers forced entry into the Ringer Road residence and found a crime scene in the kitchen and blood that someone tried to clean up, court documents indicate.
Hughes told police she and the two men were involved in a love triangle. She said they were smoking crack and drinking together just before the shooting, which happened sometime during the early morning hours. She said she was sitting with Gambrel in the kitchen when he got up and went outside to his van. Plance went into the kitchen to roll a cigarette.
Hughes said Gambrel came in through the door and shot Plance in the head, according to court documents filed in the case.
She said she thought Gambrel moved the body in his van to his garage along Morgantown Road in Georges Township.
Troopers arrived at the 3540 Morgantown Rd. garage and found Gambrel outside cleaning up his van. He was taken into custody and admitted to shooting Plance, police said.
State police obtained a search warrant and found the body in a box in the garage and a .22-caliber rifle in the van, court documents indicate.
Gambrel told police Hughes helped him clean up the crime scene and drove with him to the garage to dump the body. He said he put the body in a box, covered it with a tarp and moved it with a dolly.
Hughes later admitted to her role, police said, saying they both tried to clean blood off the floor with towels and a mop. She said she helped Gambrel move the body, according to paperwork filed in the case.
Gambrel is charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. He was arraigned by on-call Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr. at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday. He is being held without bail in Fayette County Prison.
Hughes is charged with hindering apprehension, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Haggerty set bail at $50,000 in her case. She remains lodged in Fayette County Prison.
A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Daniel C. Shimshock.