Derry Township man held for court in 16-year-old murder case

Aug. 9—During one of their daily meetings to use drugs, Timothy Smartnick said Charles E. Ream told him a secret.

They were at a hotel in Monroeville sometime in 2009 or 2010 when Ream said he went to Samantha Lang's Derry Township home in 2007.

Smartnick testified during Ream's preliminary hearing Wednesday that he recalled Ream saying "he ended up stabbing her and he didn't get what he was looking for," which Smartnick presumed meant drugs or cash.

"He told me 'You better not tell anybody,'" said Smartnick, 39, of Greensburg.

Homicide and robbery charges against Ream, 52, of Derry Township, were held for court during a 37-minute preliminary hearing in the March 2007 death of Lang, 22. Ream was arrested by state police July 26, more than 16 years after she was found dead in the Route 982 house near the village known as Peanut.

Troopers and Lang's family have renewed efforts over the years to bring her killer to justice, seeking information from the public to help them an arrest. Her family listened to testimony Wednesday across a courtroom aisle from Ream's family members.

Lang was killed at the home, described by police as a hub for drug activity, where her father lived. She was found March 27, 2007, and troopers believed she died 24 hours earlier. An autopsy showed she had been beaten, her throat cut and a finger broken.

Smartnick said he remembers Ream mentioning either ripping off a fingernail or breaking one of Lang's fingers. He denied that using drugs at the time of the conversation affected his ability to understand what Ream said.

Eric Mumau, a retired state trooper, said he interviewed Ream at the station in Greensburg hours after Lang's body was found. Ream went there voluntarily and told investigators that he parked his work truck at Lang's home on March 26, 2007 and went inside to buy drugs.

Trooper David Wineland testified that he took over as lead investigator on the case in 2019. Evidence photos showed that the house had been broken into and ransacked, and there were no drugs or cash found inside, he said. One safe found inside has never been opened and remains in evidence. A second safe was found open and empty.

Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro argued that Ream admitted to being at the home the night of Lang's death and testimony showed that Ream's statements to Smartnick lined up with the evidence.

Defense attorney Marc Daffner seized on testimony from the two troopers that no forensic evidence belonging to Ream was found at the scene. He questioned how that could be the case if Ream broke in, beat Lang and broke one of her fingers.

"It's ridiculous," Daffner argued.

Ream is being held at the Westmoreland County Prison without bail.

His former boss, Mark Cerra, waited outside to hear the outcome of the hearing. Cerra owns a towing business and said Ream worked for him as a tow truck driver for about a year or so.

Cerra said he was aware of Ream's history with drugs and Ream denied being involved with Lang's death. He was surprised at the arrest.

"My thoughts was, it took so long if he is guilty, but then again ... what happens if he isn't and he's accused of being guilty?" Cerra said.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .