Oliver L. Trizarri admitted Friday in Schuylkill County Court that he helped beat a man to death in January 2014 in Coaldale, and said he will testify against his alleged accomplice.
Trizarri, 22, of Reading, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and conspiracy during a 10-minute hearing before Judge John E. Domalakes.
Prosecutors withdrew the most serious charge against Trizarri, first-degree murder, along with charges of criminal homicide, robbery, aggravated assault and theft.
Domalakes accepted the plea but did not order preparation of a presentence investigation or immediately sentence Trizarri. Under the terms of the plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant, Trizarri will serve 15 to 30 years in a state correctional institution and pay $4,295 restitution.
However, the judge made it clear that Trizarri will have to help prosecutors in the case against his alleged accomplice, Stanley E. Kralik, 18, of Coaldale, in order to benefit from the agreement.
“The defendant must cooperate and testify” against Kralik, Domalakes said. “An essential part of (the plea agreement) is cooperation. You have to testify truthfully.”
Assistant Public Defender Michael A. O’Pake, Trizarri’s lawyer, said his client, who faces a maximum sentence of 40 to 80 years in a state correctional institution for the two crimes, received fair treatment.
“We think that’s more than fair and reasonable under the circumstances,” O’Pake said of the sentence.
Claude A.L. Shields, Pottsville, Kralik’s lawyer, attended the hearing on behalf of his client, but declined to comment on it after it ended.
Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Lehman said after the hearing that no date has been set for Kralik’s trial, which also will be before Domalakes, and that Trizarri will have to testify truthfully during it. Otherwise, she declined to comment on the case.
Lehman and Assistant District Attorney Keith D. Hoppes are prosecuting the case against Kralik and Trizarri.
State police at Frackville alleged Kralik and Trizarri fatally beat Corey M. Samuels between 11 p.m. Jan. 20, 2014, and midnight Jan. 21, 2014, in a wooded area off East Miner Street. Police said Samuels’ body was not found until Sept. 6, 2014, and that an examination of it by a forensic anthropologist revealed signs of head trauma, piercing wounds, fractures and dislodged teeth.
Police said Kralik and Trizarri had an argument with Samuels before he was first reported missing.
Trizarri, who wore a prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles, said little during the hearing except that he understood the terms of his plea and was entering it knowingly and voluntarily. He said on at least one prior occasion that he participated in killing Samuels.
Domalakes ruled earlier that Kralik, who was a juvenile at the time of the incident, should be tried as an adult. He has scheduled a pretrial conference in that case for 9:30 a.m. March 14 in order to set a trial schedule.
Defendant: Oliver L. Trizarri
Age: 22
Residence: Reading
Crimes committed: Third-degree murder and conspiracy