MANSFIELD - A 79-year-old Mifflin Township man charged in connection with the shooting death of his wife could receive life in prison without parole if convicted.
Clyde Manley Jr. was recently indicted by a Richland County grand jury on charges of aggravated murder with a firearm specification, murder with a firearm specification, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Manley faces up to life in prison without parole on the aggravated murder charge and up to 15 years to life on the murder charge, both unspecified special felonies. Tampering with evidence is a third-degree felony and carries a potential sentence of up to three years.
The charge of gross abuse of a corpse is a felony of the fifth degree and carries a potential sentence a year in prison. The firearm specification carries a potential penalty of up to three years, consecutive to any other sentence he receives.
Manley was described as having Alzheimer's disease in a 911 call reporting the death.
He is being held on a $1 million cash bond in the county jail. He has been accused of shooting Barbara Manley, 65, two times in the chest, according to the Richland County Prosecutor's Office.
Her body was found March 5 in the garage of their 1649 Frontier Trail residence.
According to the preliminary autopsy report, Barbara Manley suffered gunshot wounds to the upper chest and lower chest. She also suffered abrasions and contusions of the face and scalp, according to the report, obtained by the News Journal in a public records request.
Barbara Manley also suffered postmortem abrasions on her lower legs, suggesting the body was moved at some point after death, according to the preliminary autopsy.
The grand jury also indicted Joseph Salser, 31, on charges of aggravated arson (two counts), tampering with evidence and ethnic intimidation.
Mansfield police on Jan. 24 were dispatched because of a man with a knife. Two reported victims said the man came to their residence with a knife, toilet paper and a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid and threw the lighted toilet paper on their front porch and a neighbor's front porch.
One of the victims told police the man then ran back to a house in the 400 block of Hammond Avenue. Salser is being held in the county jail.
He was alleged to have screamed some racial comments at two houses whose occupants were African-American.
Also indicted was Matthew Pickworth, 31, on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide (two counts), tampering with evidence and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence (two counts).
Pickworth was the driver of a pickup truck in a single-vehicle crash on Adario North Road on July 21, 2017, authorities said. Prosecutors allege he operated a vehicle intoxicated and lost control of the vehicle.
As a result, his passenger, Nathan Cayten, 22, of Shiloh, was pronounced dead at the scene by Coroner Dan Burwell. Pickworth is out on bond.
Also indicted was Matthew Tarbert, 36, of Hamilton, on charges of intimidation with forfeiture specification and firearm specifications, inducing panic (two counts), carrying a concealed weapon with a forfeiture specification, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and retaliation.
The Butler County man is suspected of having an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his vehicle after reportedly previously making threats to juvenile court officials.
Tarbert is being held in the county jail on an $800,000 cash bond.
Prosecutor Gary Bishop said Tarbert was arrested near juvenile court by Mansfield police, sheriff's deputies and U.S. Marshals, who were made aware of alleged threats.
"He was upset with a decision the court had made and allegedly made threatening and provocative comments, some verbally, some on Facebook," Bishop said.
He added Tarbert was allegedly not happy about some changes by the court regarding visitation of a child.
