Unsolved murder 'not a cold case' yet

Greensburg police Detective Jerry Vernail isn't ready to call the William Mark Painter homicide a cold case.

He said he believes the murder can be solved, although authorities have "no one in particular" as a suspect today, more than five months after the slaying.

"I never knew the definition of that, when they become cold, what date that happens," Vernail said. "But as long we're getting new things, new leads, I'd say no," it's not a cold case.

Painter, 45, was found dead March 7 in his efficiency apartment at 302 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Authorities believe he was killed within 48 hours of when his body was discovered.

Painter's younger brother, Eric, and landlord found him when they inquired of Painter's welfare. Family members had become concerned after they hadn't heard from Painter for a few days.

The victim was struck in the head multiple times and stabbed a dozen times in the neck.

Vernail, the lead investigator along with Westmoreland County Detective William Brown, said he believes test results of forensic evidence that was collected in the apartment will help to solve the case.

"I think it will have a significant impact," Vernail said.

That testing isn't done -- and the detective wouldn't elaborate on that evidence.

So far, authorities have questioned more than two dozen people.

The interviews have been made more difficult because many of those questioned use or have used illegal drugs, as Painter did.

Vernail, a police officer for about 20 years and a detective for less than a year, said these drug-using witnesses may be silent out of concern that their statements could be used against them later. He said he, Brown and other detectives try to reassure these witnesses that their information won't hurt them, but often they don't believe the investigators.

And sometimes the interviews take detectives down other paths.

"What's generally the case, you talk to one, you get three more places to look," Vernail said.

But he also views having to question more witnesses as good: It means the case isn't cold yet.

Painter's father, Bill, a Penn Township shoe repairman, said his son struggled with drugs, especially crack cocaine, for most of his life. The drugs prompted his son's visits to mental institutions, his father said. One such trip occurred last year.

The drugs and mental issues also forced his son to begin living on disability payments several years ago, the father said.

Detectives believe drugs may well have been a factor in his killing.

Some of the people detectives have been talking to go to West Place Clubhouse, a center on Main Street in Greensburg for mentally challenged clients. Painter was barred from that facility months before his death for unspecified behavior.

Many people were in and out of Painter's apartment shortly before his death. Authorities have sent fingerprints found at the residence to state and federal authorities to be checked against databases, according to sources. There is other evidence from the scene, too.

Bill Painter said his son had a girlfriend, but that relationship was "off and on."

What Painter was hit with remains a mystery.

"I don't know if we'll ever know," Vernail said. "It was almost like a billy club ... or a blackjack or a pipe, something on that order."

The family noticed a missing set of cookware bought for Painter as a gift. But Vernail doesn't believe a pan or some other cooking utensil was the murder weapon.

The object used to stab Painter also hasn't been found, according to authorities.

Another mystery is the key to the apartment. It's gone. Eric Painter said he needed to get his brother's landlord to let him into the apartment that Sunday in March because the front door was locked.

There was no sign of forced entry, according to police.

"It's one of the biggest mysteries of the whole thing," Vernail said.

The detective said the savageness of the killing could "indicate several things." The killer could have been an angry lover or acquaintance, Vernail said, or emotionally unstable. And the killer may have been "just plain mad."

No one has been ruled out yet as a suspect, Vernail said.

A comforter was on part of Painter's body when he was found near the refrigerator in the cramped apartment. But Vernail said he believes that blanket fell on the body during the slaying.

"It was not like, thrown over him, by any means," he said.

Detectives have talked about asking the FBI to do a profile of the killer. But the local authorities aren't ready just yet to summon the federal government's help.

Vernail said his concern is that, if the eventual suspect doesn't fit the profile, then police have to justify any arrest that much more.

"I think, down the road, it may be something we're looking at," Vernail said.

For now, he and Brown are waiting on test results of the evidence gathered in the apartment. And then maybe they can find a person who can piece everything together.

"I think it will be solved. Absolutely," Vernail said. Additional Information:

Unsolved case

Anyone with information on the William Mark Painter homicide is asked to call Greensburg police at 724 838-4315.