State police believe Clayton J. Hindman fatally shot a 38-year-old Parker woman in the face with a .44 Magnum pistol.

The finding stems from an investigation into the death of Salina Poppy Chilson, whose badly decomposed body was discovered five weeks ago at Hindman's rental home in Polk, Venango County.

However, Venango County Coroner Christine Rugh confirmed Wednesday the official cause and manner of death are still pending,

Hindman was booked Tuesday afternoon into the Venango County Jail following his extradition from south central Missouri, where he turned himself in to authorities on July 27, two days after Polk police found Chilson's remains.

District Judge Matthew Kirtland of Polk arraigned Hindman on charges of homicide, aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.

He is being held without bond because bail is not granted to defendants charged with homicide in Pennsylvania. Authorities said Hindman did not have an attorney at the time of his arraignment.

Venango County District Attorney Shawn White would not say Wednesday if investigators have a motive for the shooting. Nor was a motive indicated in charging documents.

“The nature of our investigation has been very complex given the state of which the body was found,” White said. “The investigation is ongoing and will not be completed anytime soon.”

He said the information in the criminal complaint “justifies the charges.”

Nature of the charges

Those charges followed a state police investigation opened July 25 when Hindman's daughter notified authorities and requested a welfare check on her father, advising she had not heard from him in several weeks.

No one was at Hindman's home, but borough officers discovered the body of a woman covered in a blanket down to the knees. She had a pistol in her left hand with the safety on.

Police later learned Chilson was right-handed, suggesting someone intentionally placed a .25-caliber pistol in her left land.

A ballistics report indicated the bullet that killed Chilson was from a .44-caliber round.

The crime scene investigation turned up blood evidence between the living room and kitchen area, and a human tooth on the kitchen floor.

Authorities said it appeared the woman had been dead “for several weeks.”

The state police crime unit subsequently took over the case. An autopsy was performed, but the cause and manner of death were not immediately determined.

However, detectives uncovered a bullet fragment as part of the investigation, and the ballistic evidence was sent to the police crime lab.

Investigators at the time suspected the remains were that of Chilson, who was reported missing by friends July 3. Authorities only recently confirmed the identity by DNA samples taken from the bones.

Fled to Missouri

Police believe Hindman fled to Ava, Mo., after killing Chilson. They said his girlfriend lives there.

Before turning himself in to authorities, police said Hindman spoke by phone with Pennsylvania troopers and said he was “freaking out and just scared.” He refused to answer questions without speaking to an attorney.

Missouri authorities detained Hindman on July 27 and interviewed his girlfriend, who apparently convinced him to turn himself in. She recounted that “out of the blue” he showed up at her home the week after July 4.

She later allowed deputies from the Douglas County Sheriffs's Office to search her home, which turned up items allegedly belonging to Hindman, including a duffel bag and pistol case that contained two Ruger .44 Magnum handguns.

The woman also turned over her cellphone to deputies.

By the end of that day, Pennsylvania state police got an arrest warrant for Hindman on charges that included a top count of aggravated assault, in connection with their investigation.

He remained in Douglas County Jail on the warrant while Pennsylvania authorities began extradition proceedings.

Girlfriend calls investigators

On July 28, Hindman's girlfriend called state police in Franklin to ask about her cellphone. The call was made on a recorded line, investigators said.

She told police she had known Hindman for 30 years and characterized their relationship as “exclusive” and “long distance.”

When he showed up at her home, he only had a duffel bag and his dog.

He “wasn't acting like himself,” she recalled, adding that he spent most of his time sleeping in her bedroom.

At some point, he signed over his pickup truck to her, she said.

She told police Hindman went to a barber with her, where he had his head “buzzed.” He also got clean shaven and had all his piercings removed.

Eventually, investigators said, he told his girlfriend what he allegedly had done the evening of July 26.

According to charging documents, Hindman's account of events as told to authorities by his girlfriend was that he returned to his home after drinking with another man and at some point went to the bathroom. When he came out, the man was pointing a gun at him.

He went to the living room and got a gun that was under a pillow on the couch and allegedly shot the man in the face.

His girlfriend allegedly told police Hindman would not give her the man's name. She said she “did some research” and learned about the search for Chilson.

She told investigators she asked Hindman if the person he shot was Chilson, but he would not say. She also told authorities he denied cheating on her.

Ballistics and text messages

An Aug. 8 ballistics report indicated the bullet fragment uncovered during the autopsy was from a .44-caliber round. The report found the round could have been fired from several gunmakers, including Ruger.

On Aug. 12, police received records from Hindman's cellphone showing several text messages between Hindman and Chilson between June 30 and July 3.

The last message, according to police, indicated the two were going to meet at the Unimart store in Emlenton on the morning of July 3.

Hindman sent the following messages to a different phone number July 17: “I am so (expletive), bad (expletive)” and “Mustang lay in my live room.” Another message read: “she tried to shoot me.”

On Aug. 16, police received the preliminary findings of a report analyzing the bones discovered at Hindman's home.

Conducted by Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst College in Erie, the report noted Chilson had a “large defect” on the occipital bone of the cranium.

The defect indicated “a gunshot event,” and suggested it could be an exit wound.

The report also referred to the autopsy, which found the woman's lower jawbone was broken in three spots, and several teeth had horizontal and vertical cracking.

Dirkmaat said Tuesday he sent his preliminary findings to investigators a “few weeks ago.” He said he expected his final report to be completed within two weeks.

Rugh said that report would be forwarded to the pathologist for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office who performed the autopsy. The pathologist will ultimately determine a cause and manner of death.

Neither White nor police would provide any further details about the investigation.