New evidence presented in homicide case
New evidence of blood, believed to be that of Melissa Barto, 26, as well as a bullet lodged in the passenger side door of her boyfriend's car, led police to file charges in Barto's shooting death, according to the investigator who testified during two preliminary hearings on Tuesday.
During the contentious hearings, where family members could be heard making statements from the gallery, charges against two men, Ishemer D. Ramsey, 21, and Joshua W. Bowser, 22, both of Lyndora, were bound over to county court by Magisterial District Judge William Fullerton at the Butler County courthouse.
Ramsey, the alleged triggerman, was charged with homicide, hindering apprehension, misdemeanor abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and conspiracy counts to the same.
Bowser was charged with hindering apprehension and misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to abuse of a corpse and conspiracy to tampering with evidence, after police allege he lent his vehicle to Ramsey to use to dispose of Barto's body.
