A woman was charged with murder on Tuesday after delivering the drugs that killed a man at the Cumberland County restaurant where he worked, according to court documents.
Samantha Pack, 30, of Elizabethville, has been charged with third-degree murder and nine other counts. She was denied bail and is being held at Cumberland County Prison.
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According to an affidavit of probable cause, the then-owners of Visaggio’s on Wertzille Road in Silver Spring Township called the police on December 27, 2024, after one of their employees, Ronald Martin, failed to show up for work.
Following Martin’s death in February, new owners purchased Visaggio’s, a long-running Italian restaurant in Cumberland County with associated motel rooms.
The former owners stated that they permitted Martin to live in one of the rooms and informed Silver Spring police that it was unusual for him not to show up for work or return calls.
Visaggio’s owners entered Martin’s room using a master key and discovered him dead at 1 p.m. on December 27, according to the affidavit. The police reported finding him on the room’s floor, with a pillow beneath his head.
Toxicology testing later revealed that Martin had metonitazene, protonitazene, xylazine, and doxylamine in his system. The United States Department of Justice stated in 2021 that protonitazene is becoming more popular and is almost three times more toxic than fentanyl. Metonitazene is a synthetic opioid with a strength comparable to fentanyl.
Silver Spring police said they discovered three clear wax-like bags in Martin’s room, consistent with drug packing, but his smartphone was missing. According to court filings, Martin had a history of drug usage.
While inspecting Martin’s motel room, Silver Spring officers discovered a torn white packet that they classified as drug paraphernalia. Police also discovered an empty package for a Straight Talk phone.
Surveillance footage from outside the motel showed Martin leaving his room and meeting a lady in the parking area at 1 p.m. on December 24, 2024, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, the woman was captured on camera exiting Martin’s room at 1:37 p.m. and headed toward the parking lot. According to court filings, she returned to the motel room at 1:50 p.m. before leaving again five minutes later.
According to the affidavit, Martin was last seen leaving his room around 1:13 p.m. on December 24, 2024.
Two of Visaggio’s coworkers told police that Martin was feeding money to a woman known as “Kardashian” and doing “dope” with her.
Martin was known to police because of a separate investigation between him and another lady who began months before his murder, according to court filings. According to police, Martin’s coworkers identified Pack as the woman’s best friend.
Police claimed they discovered a Facebook profile for Pack that listed the other woman as a friend. According to the affidavit, Pack’s Facebook photographs matched the lady seen on surveillance tape with Martin on December 24, the day he was last seen alive.
According to court filings, Pennsylvania State Police officers who saw Pack in the Lykens region in December 2024 informed Silver Spring police that they believed she was the lady in the footage.
Automatic license plate scanners showed Pack’s Ford SUV going north on Route 114 minutes before a lady was seen on surveillance cameras meeting Martin outside his motel room, according to the affidavit. According to court filings, license plate readers detected her SUV moving east on Wertzville Road minutes after the woman left Martin’s room.
Pack admitted to “seeing Ron” on Christmas Eve, traveling to Sheetz, and spending time with him at his motel room. She denied using narcotics, according to the affidavit.
She informed police that she discovered Martin’s phone in her SUV after contacting him to check on him. According to the affidavit, she put his phone in her center console and did not return it to Silver Spring Township due to the long travel.
According to court filings, Pack later told police that she witnessed Martin “use a bag” in the car on the way to Sheetz. According to the affidavit, Pack informed officers that after Martin sent her $100, she provided him two bags of drugs.
According to the affidavit, Pack told officers that the drug cocktail frequently contained animal tranquilizers. According to court filings, when officers questioned if the medications she gave Martin contained a sedative, she said, “Probably.”
Phone records showed: According to the complaint, Pack texted Martin on December 24 and asked him if he wanted narcotics. According to court filings, he responded by text that he wanted the narcotics and would pay her for them.
According to court filings, Pack reported that Martin appeared OK after taking the medications and returning to his motel room.
According to the complaint, Pack stated that she left the motel room on the afternoon of December 24 but returned seconds later to collect her vape and discovered Martin asleep and snoring on the bed.
Pack touched Martin and murmured his name while making “weird snoring noises,” according to court filings. She claimed she shifted Martin onto his side but denied putting him on the floor. According to the affidavit, Pack claimed she didn’t call 911 because she didn’t want Martin fired.
According to court documents, if Pack had phoned 911, Martin would most likely have survived the overdose.
An informant informed police. Pack contacted them on Dec. 24, crying, saying she was with Martin when he became intoxicated and became unconscious, according to court filings. The informant stated that Pack told them she was going and could be heard yelling Martin’s name on the phone.
According to the affidavit, a few weeks later, the informant reported that Pack informed them that Martin had died.
In addition to murder, Pack was charged on Tuesday with drug distribution that resulted in death, involuntary manslaughter, criminal use of a communication service, theft, drug possession/delivery charges, and evidence tampering.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 10 before Magisterial District Judge Elizabeth Beckley.
