6 arrested after woman’s severely tortured body found in Pa. school parking lot

Woman’s severely tortured body found at Pa. school

PITTSBURGH — A woman was fed vegetable oil, spices, detergent, urine and medications, then forced to write a suicide note, stabbed to death, wrapped in plastic, put in a garbage can and dumped in a school parking lot, police said Friday as they charged six people.

Jennifer Daugherty’s head had been shaved, and she had been bound with Christmas decorations and clothing; she also was hit with a towel rack, vacuum cleaner hose and a crutch, according to an affidavit.

Six people were charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of Daugherty, who was missing since Monday and whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

She was identified by relatives, according to police. Her age and address were not immediately available, nor was a motive. An afternoon news conference was scheduled.

Charged were Robert Loren Masters Jr., 36, Ricky Smyrnes, 23, Melvin Knight, 20, Amber Meidinger, 20, all of Greensburg; a 17-year-old girl from Greensburg; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 27, of Mount Pleasant Township. All were being held without bond in the Westmoreland County prison. It was not clear whether they had attorneys.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, Knight admitted stabbing Daugherty in the chest, side and neck, and he and Smyrnes carried her body to the parking lot. All six defendants admitted their involvement and implicated others, according to police.

A neighbor in a first-floor apartment reported hearing a “tussle upstairs and a ‘heavy bam’” as though a body fell, causing the ceiling to shake before it went quiet on Wednesday night, the affidavit said.

Another resident of that apartment said Smyrnes and two women came to their apartment afterward, and the man asked them to turn their television down, saying his girlfriend was lying down with a headache, the affidavit said.

A man found Daugherty’s body Thursday morning when he saw the plastic garbage can partially beneath his truck.