State police in Indiana County charged a 32-year-old Blairsville man with murder today, two weeks after they discovered a barrel containing human remains in the Conemaugh River.
Jon Anthony Black remains at large, according to a state police news release. Police are asking for help from the public to find Mr. Black, who is known to frequent Indiana and Westmoreland counties. He is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. He has brown eyes, brown hair and several tattoos on his upper body, including a picture of Hitler on his chest and multiple skulls on his neck and right arm.
State police asked anyone who has seen Mr. Black to call 724-357-1960.
A dive team found the barrel Aug. 31 about a mile north of Blairsville, beneath a bridge on Newport Road off Route 217. Portions of a skeleton and soft tissue were examined during an autopsy, but the Indiana County Coroner has been unable to identify the remains.
Joe Anthony Black’s tattoos
State Police sealed the criminal complaint supporting Mr. Black’s arrest because the investigation is ongoing and additional people might be charged, according to the news release.
Mr. Black has a lengthy criminal record, according to court records. In 2001, he was sentenced to six to 12 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to causing a car accident resulting in death or injury. In 2004, he was sentenced to one to two years in jail after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and various drug charges.
Anyone found hiding or helping Mr. Black could be charged with a felony, the release said.
WTAE
INDIANA, Pa. — A body found stuffed inside a barrel and dumped in a creek in Indiana County may be that of missing Pittsburgh teenager Rodnell Burton, but state police have not confirmed it and are staying mostly quiet about their investigation while they continue searching for a suspect.
Burton, 17, of Singer Place in Homewood, was last seen April 3. Family members told Channel 4 Action News that they’ve been contacted by investigators who said he’s believed to be the victim in their homicide case, but they don’t know why anyone would have wanted to do him harm.”He was a beautiful kid, he had a heart as big as all outdoors, and he had a million-dollar smile, and anything that you wanted from him, he would give you,” grandmother Donna Reed Williams said Tuesday. “You didn’t have to take anything from him. He would just give you whatever he had. That’s the way he was … the last thing he shared before he disappeared was what he wanted to do with and for his mom.”Williams, along with Burton’s mother, Shawndalaya Reed White, told Channel 4 Action News’ Tara Edwards that they last saw the teen on March 28 before he went to Plum Borough.”He went to take his girlfriend home and then he disappeared off the face of the Earth,” White said. “You live the same day over and over again hoping he comes home. You know, it’s like Groundhog Day. You live the same day over and over again because you don’t know.”On Tuesday, Channel 4 Action News’ Jennifer Miele reported that Pennsylvania State Police at the Indiana station had filed charges against Jon Anthony Black, 32, of Yukon. It’s not clear how he may have known Burton, or if he even knew the boy at all.
Police are showing photos of Black and of his many tattoos, including the likeness of Adolf Hitler on his upper right chest, an angel of death in the middle of his back and a large skull on his upper right arm.
The markings are “absolutely unique to Mr. Black, so we’re hoping that somebody may have seen these tattoos, may have saw Mr. Black and come forward in helping us locate him,” Trooper John Matchik said. Slideshow: Images Of Jon Bl
ack & His Tattoos No further details of the case have been released. In a short statement Tuesday, police said, “Due to the sensitive nature of the investigation and the possibility of additional actors being charged, the Court of Common Pleas has sealed the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause.”While police won’t say exactly why they are looking for Black, they said anybody who may be helping him stay on the run should consider themselves warned.”If we discover that someone is aiding and assisting Mr. Black, they very well could face severe criminal charges for assisting him,” Matchik said.Burton’s family also made a plea for anyone with information to come forward.”You never know what may help. Even the smallest thing you think is nothing may be the one thing that is key to getting these guys,” said Williams. “I hope they suffer. I shouldn’t say that, but I hope they do. I mean, honestly, I hope they’re caught.”Black was last known to live in Westmoreland County, Matchik said, but he also has ties to the area where the body was found by a dive team in the Conemaugh River near the community of Burrell Township, just outside Blairsville.
Miele reported that the 55-gallon barrel was found in the water under a bridge along Newport Road. Indiana County Coroner Michael Baker said identifying the body will take some time, and forensics experts are using DNA to help them.Police said they were originally investigating a series of robberies and burglaries, and during the course of that investigation, they got some other information that prompted a search for the barrel.Online court records show Black was awaiting trial on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia filed by Indiana borough police. A county judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest in July when Black didn’t appear in court. Black was living with family members in Blairsville at that time, but a woman who answered the door on Tuesday declined to speak with Channel 4 Action News.In January 2004, according to online records, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and related charges — including another drug paraphernalia charge — in Westmoreland County and was sentenced to one year minus a day to two years minus two days.
His name is Jon Anthony Black, and he is a tattoo artist out of Blairsville, PA. On his MySpace page he counts among his friends Vinlanders, Hammerskins, members of whatever counts for being Keystone United these days, and other assorted Nazis. Police have named him as a suspect in the murder of a 17-year-old Black teen out of Pittsburgh named Rodnell Burton, whose body was found stuffed in a barrell and dumped in a creek two weeks ago. And police aren’t putting out too many details because there might be more arrests. Don’t expect this guy to be out too long. We’re not too sure the climate is right for the people he knows to try and harbor this scumbag. It’s going to real interesting how they take to this though, because this seems to be happening a lot with this crowd. This is now the third murder from boneheads that we have covered in Pennsylvanis, and the second on in the Pittsburgh area. Someone besides us is going to start paying attention to that little fact.
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