Another charge added in case
A Butler man already accused of using a slain man’s bank debit card is now charged with felony drug possession.
State police Tuesday filed the additional charge against 23-year-old Raheem Rondel Archer, who was allegedly caught last week with a half dozen baggies of suspected marijuana.
Troopers say they found the drugs in the trunk of his car Jan. 5 at a Butler Township apartment complex.
In the front seat, they also seized two cigars with suspected marijuana inside them.
Police went to the Whitestown Village apartments looking for Archer in connection with their ongoing investigation in the homicide of 74-year-old James S. Martin, who was found Dec. 31 brutally stabbed to death at his East Butler home.
Archer and his friend, Christopher M. Cannon, 27, of Butler, were identified as suspects in the investigation, police said, after they were seen on surveillance video using a debit card belonging to Martin.
Investigators allege the men used the card at stores in Butler and Center townships Dec. 31, after Martin was killed.
Police on Jan. 6 arrested Archer and Cannon for the suspected debit card fraud. Neither man has been charged with the homicide.
Archer, in an interview with investigators, denied any involvement in Martin’s killing, police said. Cannon had declined to speak to police.
District Judge Lewis Stoughton on Tuesday arraigned Archer on his latest charges, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance. He remains free on $5,000 bail.
Cannon is being held in the Butler County Prison on a probation detainer, as well as $30,000 bail stemming from the debit card fraud case.
While police Lt. Eric Hermick has identified both men as suspects in the homicide investigation, he previously acknowledged, “Cannon is the stronger suspect for the violence that occurred in this case.”
Police have released little information about their investigation. But according to court papers, investigators noted that when they arrested Cannon, he had cuts and other injuries on his hands.
Those injuries, documents said, “would be indicative of a struggle” with Martin.
