Background: The neighborhood in Clarion, Pa. where Rachel Roman was found dead (Google Maps). Inset (left): Suspect Chase Steigerwald (Facebook). Inset (right): Rachel Roman (Legacy.com).
A Pennsylvania man was charged with criminal homicide after he allegedly tried to pass off his friend's stabbing death as a suicide.
Chase Steigerwald, 34, is currently behind bars at Clarion County Jail after police said he killed 45-year-old Rachel Roman, who was found dead in Steigerwald's apartment on the morning of Nov. 5. According to a criminal complaint obtained by local news outlet Explore Jefferson PA, Steigerwald and an unnamed woman were outside Steigerwald's home when police arrived on the scene. Steigerwald claimed to police that he and the woman left to take a walk, and when they returned, they found Roman dead inside.
That unnamed woman would later tell police a very different story.
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According to the complaint, the woman told police that she was in another room when she heard "gurgling/choking noises coming from the living room." She went to see what was happening and came across Steigerwald, who was packing up a backpack and preparing to leave. Roman was on the floor, bleeding. He told the woman they "needed to leave," and she noted that she had to step over a futon to avoid walking in Roman's blood.
Police said surveillance cameras caught the pair leaving the home at 5:05 a.m. and coming back at 6:38 a.m. While the two were out, they walked around the neighborhood and Steigerwald allegedly told the woman that he was going to try to make Roman's death "look like a suicide."
After they got back to Steigerwald's apartment, the woman told police that she witnessed him put a knife that was on the floor in Roman's hand so he could get her fingerprints on it. She also allegedly saw him hide a bottle of methamphetamine in the couch where she had previously seen Roman sitting.
A witness who was at a party at Steigerwald's apartment the night before said they saw Roman, alive and sitting on the couch, at around 11 p.m. Around the same time, another witness who was on a FaceTime call with Steigerwald said that she saw him brandishing the same kind of fixed-blade knife that was found near Roman's body. The same witness said she heard Steigerwald arguing with Roman during the call.
Police said that Roman sent a text to a co-worker at 11:39 p.m. That co-worker's reply, sent at 12:20 a.m., was not delivered, according to the criminal complaint, indicating that Roman's phone appeared to have been powered off.
When police spoke to a neighbor, they said there was a loud party going on at Steigerwald's home until about midnight, when the noise suddenly stopped and it became "very quiet."
When police questioned Steigerwald, he explained that the knife they found was his, and he used it for hunting. He allegedly admitted to smoking molly before calling 911 on the morning of Nov. 5.
Investigators said they found blood in several locations inside the home, including the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, and on a bottle of Dawn dishwashing soap. They also reportedly found the methamphetamine.
An autopsy conducted on Roman's body stated that she sustained stab wounds to her face, chest, arm, and hand. Her cause of death was a fatal stab wound to the neck.
Steigerwald was arrested on a drug charge a few days after Roman's body was found. After he was charged with criminal homicide on Tuesday, the drug charge was dropped. He remains in custody without bond at Clarion County Jail. His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 2.