Wegenand charged with murder of David Kimberly brought to trial | Condition

RURAL VALLEY – Murder and related charges against a Rural Valley man went to trial following a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Cody James Weiland, 34, was returned to the Armstrong County Jail without bail on charges of first-degree murder and criminal homicide in connection with the death of his stepfather, David Ewing Kimberly, 56, who was last seen alive in late September.

In a hearing before Rural Valley Magisterial District Judge Kevin Lee McCausland, a prima facie case was also found against Weiland for abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and making false reports.

Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton presented the charges, while Armstrong County Public Defender Justin Lee Carpenter represented Weiland.

According to police records, on Sept. 23, after a verbal altercation with his wife, Kimberly drove away from his Rural Valley home in a van that was later found in a wooded area near a residence on Reefer Hollow Road in Plumcreek Township.

Kimberly's remains were found in Jefferson County on October 12th.

Weiland was arraigned Oct. 13 before Leechburg District Judge James Andring and then appeared before McCausland.

No date has been set for a formal arraignment in Armstrong County Common Pleas Court.

Kimberly's disappearance caught the attention of his brother and sister-in-law.

“No one should ever have to go through something this horrible,” Michelle Kimberly posted on Facebook Tuesday morning. “Please keep Marc and his family in your prayers. Today will be a hard day full of emotions.”

Marc Kimberly previously expressed his feelings in an interview with the Kittanning Leader Times.

“I have a lot of fond memories of working with my brother, doing carpet work and cutting the lawn with me,” Marc said. “He wanted to work with me more next summer. He was just trying to improve his health so he could be more mobile.”

When asked what he knew about the suspect, Marc Kimberly said, “It's David's wife's son.”

As the search for missing person David Kimberly continued, state police said he suffered from heart failure and needed to take daily medication.

When David Kimberly's family noticed his absence, Marc Kimberly said he “begged” news outlets to help find his brother, with no immediate success.

“Nobody wanted to help because he wasn’t listed as a missing person,” Marc said in a broken voice, before adding that his brother was officially declared missing eight days after September 23rd.

Initial reports of David Kimberly's disappearance appeared as breaking news in the Indiana Gazette on Oct. 2 after state police from Troop D, Kittanning, issued a missing persons report for him.

AJ Panian of the Kittanning Leader Times contributed to this story.