ORANGE — The two suspects in the murder of 95-year-old Thomas Harty in a home invasion last week were accused in district court two days earlier of stealing a relative’s car to buy heroin.
The pair were released on personal recognizance, but two days later, police allege, they stole Harty’s car after murdering him and seriously injuring his wife.
The pair fled to Virginia where they were apprehended over the weekend and are awaiting rendition to Massachusetts.
In the first stolen car case, Joshua A. Hart, 23, of 280 Chestnut Hill Ave. in Athol, was charged with being an accessory after the fact for his connection to the car theft that police allege his girlfriend, Brittany E. Smith, committed on Oct. 2. Both were arrested on Oct. 3 and Hart was held overnight on $7,500 cash bail. Judge David S. Ross of Orange District Court released both on personal recognizance following arraignments on Oct. 4 when they pleaded innocent.
The Oct. 5 home invasion was discovered on Oct. 6.
According to court documents, a man called 911 on Oct. 2 to report that his mother-in-law’s vehicle, a 2006 Chevrolet Aveo, had possibly been stolen from King James Court. The mother-in-law, who is Smith’s great-grandmother, told Orange Officer Christopher Bisceglia she did not let anyone borrow it and had not seen it since 4 p.m. A neighbor told Bisceglia she saw Smith approach the vehicle around 4 p.m. and drive through the parking lot a short time later.
According to Bisceglia’s report, he called Smith and was told she did not have her great-grandmother’s vehicle. She said Jarmoul Corbin picked her up in King James Court in a red SUV at 2 p.m. The neighbor did not mention seeing any red SUV.
Smith’s mother told police her daughter is a heroin addict, according to the police report filed in the court record.
Officers visited Corbin’s apartment and Corbin granted officers permission to enter, after denying knowing where Hart and Smith were. Officers then found Hart and Smith in the apartment.
According to Bisceglia, Smith confessed to having tea with her great-grandmother at 3 p.m. and then taking the car keys without permission. She told police she picked up Hart and drove to Fitchburg to buy heroin, according to the police report. It was on their return home that Bisceglia called Smith. Hart and Smith decided to abandon the vehicle near an eatery in Gardner, Bisceglia reported. Gardner Police recovered the car.
Hart admitted to knowing Smith took the car without permission and to driving it at one point, according to police.
Corbin, 36, pleaded not guilty to misleading a police investigation and has a pretrial conference scheduled for Oct. 21. He was released on personal recognizance.
Hart and Smith are suspects in the murder of Thomas A. Harty and the serious injury of his wife, 77-year-old Joanna Fisher, during the home invasion at 581 East River St. Fisher was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester for treatment of throat wounds.
Warrants charging murder, attempted murder, home invasion, armed robbery, larceny and conspiracy have been issued for Hart and Smith.
Both were arrested by the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Department in Virginia and are being held without bail while awaiting rendition proceedings this week. They were taken into custody Saturday morning when Rockbridge Sgt. Scottie Sorrells located the two suspects in a U-Haul truck at the Rockbridge County Wal-Mart and took them into custody for being fugitives from justice on outstanding vehicle larceny warrants out of Massachusetts, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Harty and Fisher’s stolen vehicle was recovered in a different location in Virginia.
The two are likely to have fugitive from justice arraignments today in Virginia and then, depending on if they waive rendition rights, could be transported back to Massachusetts as early as Thursday.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 258. On Twitter @DomenicPoli