BY STACI WILSON

Roy Marvin was stabbed 29 times and bled to death Feb. 10 along a remote stretch of a Susquehanna County road while he was with friends, Sarah Briggs and Jerry Mast. His body was then dragged across the road and dumped about 100–feet down an embankment along the Susquehanna River, according to testimony Monday in New Milford District Court.

Briggs appeared for a preliminary hearing Monday in district court. Following testimony from the Susquehanna County Coroner, along with two State Police investigators, charges against Briggs were bound over for trial by Magisterial District Judge Jodi Cordner.

She faces second-degree murder charges, as well as counts of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery of a motor vehicle, hindering apprehension or prosecution and abuse of a corpse.

Jerry Mast, 24, faces a charge of criminal homicide, as well as the robbery, conspiracy and abuse of a corpse counts. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on March 23.

Coroner Anthony Conarton told the court that Marvin’s death had been ruled a homicide following an autopsy conducted Feb. 11 by Dr. Gary Ross, forensic pathologist.

The coroner said Marvin had sustained wounds to the front and back of his torso and also to his head; along with what could possibly be defensive wounds on a hand.

The time of death, based on the last time Marvin was seen and when the body was discovered was estimated to be at about 1:25 p.m. on Feb. 10, according to Conarton.

Based on lottery tickets found in Marvin’s clothing, Trooper John Oliver said police investigators were able to determine the victim’s whereabouts just prior to his murder.

The victim had been at a friend’s home in the morning doing laundry; and had plans to meet another friend later in the day for lunch, Oliver said.

Beardsley asked if Marvin had ever met the friend for lunch that day.

“No, he was murdered before he got there,” Oliver answered.

Marvin had purchased gas and the lottery tickets at the Exxon station in Great Bend Twp. Oliver said surveillance footage captured him leaving the gas station in his vehicle at about 12:55 p.m. and turning his vehicle toward Harmony Rd. – where his body was discovered less than one hour later. “That’s the last we saw of him,” Oliver told the court.

In an interview with police at the time of his arrest, Mast said he and Briggs had been with Marvin at the gas station.

After telling police a conversation with Marvin had turned “bad,” Oliver said Mast requested an attorney.

Briggs, however, told police that she had remained in Marvin’s vehicle when a verbal argument between the two men turned physical, according to testimony offered in district court.

It was also Briggs’ account, according to the trooper’s testimony, that the fight began because Mast accused Marvin of giving her methamphetamines.

Mast did not tell police what led to the stabbing; and Briggs was the only person at this point in the investigation to mention methamphetamines in connection with Marvin, Oliver said.

Trooper Mark Keyes told the court that he had interviewed Briggs after she and Mast were taken into custody in Towanda just after midnight on Feb. 12.

Keyes said Briggs said she remained in the car while the two men argued at the rear of Marvin’s parked vehicle and that she “didn’t want to watch.”

According to Keyes, Briggs also said she heard Marvin say, “Why did you stab me?”

A knife was recovered at the scene, Oliver said, was a match to one discovered at the home of Briggs’ sister, Miranda.

Oliver said Marvin picked up Briggs and Mast at her sister, Miranda Briggs’ home before he went to the gas station.

According to the trooper, Miranda Briggs told police she had heard the two accused in her kitchen going through drawers and cabinets, before leaving the residence.

Oliver also said Miranda Briggs had stated that sometimes her sister and Marvin sometimes went off together alone. He said he is still investigating the nature of the relationship between the two.

According to police, both Briggs and Mast had drafted suicide notes. One draft was left at Mast’s mother’s home; others were found in Marvin’s vehicle when the two accused were discovered by police unconscious in Marvin’s vehicle outside a hotel in Bradford County.