Trial begins for suspected drug dealer in Latrobe man's fatal 2021 overdose

The lawyer for a Latrobe man charged with selling the drugs used in a fatal overdose told a Westmoreland County jury that an incomplete police investigation left more questions than answers.

Defense attorney Ken Noga said Tuesday an autopsy report suggested 39-year-old Robert J. Verscharen had seven different drugs in his system when he died from an overdose Jan 8, 2021, in a Latrobe home. Prosecutors cannot prove his client, Zachary Dunlap, 31, sold the drugs that caused Verscharen’s overdose, he said.

“You have to decide if that’s what happened,” Noga said in his opening statement. He also cast doubt on the prosecution’s key witness, a Latrobe woman who police claimed served as an intermediary in the drug deal that led to Verscharen’s death.

“There was evidence of other drugs used throughout the house. There was no investigation. They thought they figured it out when they stepped into the house,” Noga said of the police. “What did the other bags (of suspected drugs) contain, we’ll never know.”

Dunlap is charged with drug delivery resulting in death, drug delivery and conspiracy. Prosecutors contend he provided a heroin and fentanyl mixture stamped with a red image of the horror film character “Chucky” that Verscharen consumed before his death.

Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro said strong police work led to Dunlap’s arrest. Evidence will show that he was contacted by Verscharen’s friend, who purchased the drugs and shared them with the victim, according to the prosecutor.

Investigators found empty marked stamp bags they believed were used before the fatal overdose and subsequent testing indicated they contained fentanyl.

“Yes, the victim was a drug addict and he had a number of controlled substances in his system. (The autopsy report) will say the death was caused by fentanyl,” Ciaramitaro said.

Megan Wingard, 38, of Latrobe, the woman who police said facilitated the drug deal, is awaiting trial for the same offenses as Dunlap. Ciaramitaro said Wingard gave multiple statements to police but four months after Verscharen’s death, she identified Dunlap as the man who sold her the drugs.

She is cooperating with prosecutors and was the first witness to testify Tuesday against Dunlap.

The trial is expected to continue on Wednesday.