COLUMBUS, Ohio - A sailor from Ohio was charged Friday with killing a roommate, whose body was found this week hundreds of miles from the home they shared in Virginia.
The first-degree murder charge was issued after Jarred Swartzmiller, 21, appeared in federal court on a charge of fleeing prosecution. He surrendered Thursday after spending several hours with his family and friends in Ohio.
On Friday, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel identified the partially burned, half-naked body found Monday in Hatfield, Mass., as that of 21-year-old Laura Anne Skinner, Swartzmiller's roommate.
After the court hearing, Swartzmiller was taken to the Franklin County jail, chief deputy Tom McCombs said.
Swartzmiller's attorney, Sam Shamansky, said he expects an extradition hearing will be held next week. A message seeking comment was left Friday at his office after the new charge was filed.
Swartzmiller and Skinner worked together as cryptologic technicians on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, based at Norfolk Naval Station. They also shared a house in Virginia Beach, a living arrangement that is not unusual among sailors, police spokesman Don Rimer said.
"Apparently they were living together in a platonic relationship ... and she had romantic ties elsewhere," Rimer said. Skinner had married another sailor, Denis Alford, 21, in DeLand, Fla., last week.
A third housemate reported Swartzmiller and Skinner missing on Monday when they failed to show up for work. Investigators also found signs of a violent struggle at their home.
Swartzmiller's mother, Carol, said her son rarely talked about his roommates but was friends with them.
She said it was her son's idea to turn himself in.
"He was ready to do whatever he needed to do," she said at a friend's home Thursday night. "He just wanted to see us before he did it."
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