Deputies hunt down accused heroin dealer, find OD victim in hotel bathroom

Westmoreland County sheriff's deputies on a two-day search for a man accused of selling a Derry woman the heroin that killed her Dec. 26 found him holed up Tuesday in an Indiana County hotel room, where they revived a second man who had overdosed in the bathroom.

“It was pretty shocking. ... Here we are looking for a man accused of providing the drugs that caused a woman to die, and he is found with someone else who is in the middle of overdosing in the bathroom and with drug paraphernalia all around,” said Sheriff Jonathan Held.

Deputies served an arrest warrant for drug delivery resulting in death on Dylan C. Blair, 21, whose current address is Saltsburg. He previously lived in Ligonier and Latrobe. Sheriff's deputies searched multiple addresses in Westmoreland and Indiana counties before locating Blair at the Days Inn in Burrell Township, near Blairsville, Indiana County.

“The four deputies had searched eight different locations in the two counties searching for him,” the sheriff said.

Blair is charged by county Detective Randy Gardner with providing a lethal dose of heroin that killed Michelle R. Spillar, 38, who was pronounced dead at a residence on West Fourth Street, according to the affidavit filed with Derry District Judge Mark Bilik.

Police confiscated two full stamp bags and one empty bag marked “head games” and drug paraphernalia from the room, Gardner said in the affidavit.

Gardner said the stamp bags tested positive for significant amounts of fentanyl, a potent opioid, in addition to heroin.

A witness told investigators he was with Spillar on Christmas evening and “was present when Dylan Blair sold drugs to the victim the night prior to her death,” according to the affidavit.

The witness, Tyler Klapchar, of the Derry area, reported he also had bought similar marked stamp bags and overdosed.

A second “cooperating” witness, Bryan Darazio, said Blair told him after Spillar's death, “I sold the dope to the girl who died. ... I'm looking at murder charges or something,” Gardner reported.

Blair was arraigned Tuesday before night court District Judge Tony Bompiani of Hempfield and ordered held in the county prison on $700,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing.

Held said the man in Blair's hotel room regained consciousness as deputies were moving him and preparing to administer Narcan, which reverses an overdose.

“When the man came to ... he was sort of violent and had to be restrained,” Held said.

Deputies called an ambulance and state police in Indiana, who are investigating.

Paul Peirce is a reporter for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at 724-850-2860, ppeirce@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ppeirce_trib.