Police arrest 3 in Greensburg man's overdose death, search continues for fourth suspect

Greensburg police Tuesday arrested three Westmoreland County residents and were looking for fourth person who they allege supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a city man Jan. 14.

Andrew C. Hohn, 33, of the Fort Allen area of Hempfield, and Hollie A. Schreiber, 39, of Beaver Road, also in Hempfield, were arraigned on multiple charges, including drug delivery resulting in death, criminal conspiracy and delivery of a controlled substance, in connection with the overdose death of 28-year-old Christopher Holleran, who was found dead in an Culbertson Avenue apartment he shared with his girlfriend and infant child.

Late Tuesday afternoon, police also arrested Francesco C. Ziegler, 27, who lives in the Irwin area, on identical charges. Ziegler was awaiting arraignment.

Police continue to look for George “Bee” Buchanan, 25, of Monroeville.

Detective Sgt. John Swank said Holleran’s girlfriend told him during the investigation Holleran was a recovering heroin addict.

“He had visited with his mother (on Jan. 12) to celebrate his one year of being clean,” Swank said.

According to court documents, Swank said Ziegler had been a friend of Holleran’s since high school and both had used drugs together. In a Jan. 18 interview, Swank said Ziegler told investigators Holleran had told him he was depressed and asked him for Hohn’s telephone number the day of his death.

Ziegler also told investigators he met Hohn through Schreiber.

Swank reported that when police interviewed Hohn later that day, they confiscated four cell phones and multiple bags of suspected heroin stamped “Starstruck”, the same mark as an empty stamp bag discovered with Holleran at the time of his death.

Swank reported Hohn admitted he sold Holleran five stamp bags of heroin at $10 each the day of his death. Hohn told detectives Schreiber and he had purchased a brick heroin off Buchanan early Jan. 14 at a gas station in Monroeville.

Police said Buchanan is described as a black male with a mustache, brown eyes and black hair.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Buchanan is asked to call 911 or city police at 724-834-3800.

Hohn also is charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Greensburg District Judge Chris Flanigan ordered Hohn be held in the county jail on $150,000 bond, while Schreiber was ordered to jail on $75,000 bond.

Under the state’s 2011 law, a conviction of drug delivery resulting in death, like third-degree homicide, can carry a maximum penalty of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Westmoreland County prosecutors have had mixed results with the drug delivery law in recent years.

In 2015, Kyland Napper of Wilkinsburg was acquitted for the March 2012 death of Sage Capozzi of Hempfield.

In May 2016, Ryan Paul of Delmont pleaded guilty for the February 2014 death of Joshua Perne, also of Delmont, and received a 5 to 10 year sentence. Perne’s girlfriend, Lisa Kaciubi, was acquitted by a jury of drug delivery resulting in death but was sentenced to 11 1⁄2 to 23 months in jail on lesser charges.

Demetrius Houser of Arnold received a five to 20 year sentence after being convicted in 2016 in the January 2014 death of Christina Donati-Racioppo, 31, in Lower Burrell.

Kristy Guzzi Molnar, 34, and Donati-Racioppo’s boyfriend, Derek Miller, who prosecutors said acted as intermediaries in the drug sale to Donati-Racioppo, pleaded guilty in 2017 to a less serious drug delivery charge after testifying at Houser’s trial. Both were sentenced to 10 years of probation and five years of house arrest.

Michael Peterson of Mt. Pleasant was convicted in January 2016 and sentenced to eight to 16 years for the February 2014 death of his cousin, Samuel Christner. Another man charged in Christner’s death, Garrin Ullrich-Stiffler of Youngwood, had his charge dismissed as part of a plea bargain.