Samantha Lang, age 22, was murdered at her home on Route 982 in Derry Township on March 27, 2007. Charles Ream was detained on Wednesday and charged in connection with the incident with criminal homicide, burglary, robbery, and theft by unlawful taking. The 53-year-old man was led out of the Greensburg barracks without saying anything on Wednesday.
Lang’s throat had been cut from ear to ear when she was discovered laying in a pool of blood sixteen years prior. At the time of her passing, she was enrolled in classes to become a paralegal.
Authorities claim in the criminal complaint that they spoke with Ream the day after they discovered Lang’s body. Ream allegedly waited in Lang’s driveway on March 26 before following her inside through the back door and purchasing three bags of heroin from her.
Ream acknowledged to killing Lang around the time of the crime, according to a male informant who troopers repeatedly spoke with in March of this year. Ream allegedly told investigators, “Ream described how he killed Lang at her residence over drug and/or money,” according to court documents, and that Ream simply intended to break or bend a few fingers, take the drugs, and go.
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However, the informant claimed in the complaint that he believes Ream told him he needed to “take care of her” after “she recognized him.”
Police claim to have spoken with a female informant who overheard Ream and two other guys talking in May of last year. State troopers discovered after looking through Lang’s mobile phone records that the last time she spoke to anyone was on the day she sold the heroin to Ream, according to a statement from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office.
Lang’s family continuously urged the public to call law enforcement with any information as they continued to keep the inquiry in the public glare. Ream is still being held without bail in Westmoreland County Jail.
On August 9, he will appear in court for a preliminary hearing. There has been no indication of whether anyone will get paid for giving the authorities information thus far.
