MICHIGAN .-Michael Allen Starck was arrested and charged with kidnapping and murder this Thursday night, March 2, said the first assistant district attorney of Bucks, Jennifer Schorn. The man in custody had lived in Bethlehem but was captured on the other side of the country in Wayne County, Michigan, authorities said.
Matthew Branning’s family had been waiting for justice for the disappearance and death of their family member for more than a year.
The assistant district attorney added that although Branning’s body was never recovered, they have enough evidence to charge Stark with planning the murder of his co-worker on October 15, 2021.
According to the assistant, Stark took an Uber to Enchlor Incorporated, where he worked with Matthew Branning. Matthew Branning was ending his shift at 4 pm that day and Stark was lurking, he stressed.
The defendant forced his victim to take him to a nearby bank, the Bucks assistant district attorney said. A security camera captured the last images of Branning alive as he withdrew $500 from an ATM. From there his car traveled to New Jersey, authorities said.
“He spent about an hour and a half in Somers Point, New Jersey and then fled south on the Garden State Parkway,” the assistant said.
Police believe that it was during that time period that the defendant killed his co-worker. The car was eventually recovered in Fairfax County, Virginia where they could prove that Stark had been driving. They found traces of the defendant’s DNA on the steering wheel of the victim’s car, authorities said.
The alleged murderer is in the Bucks County Jail without bail
The assistant district attorney said that it was thanks to citizen collaboration that they found the defendant’s paredero and they are still requesting help from citizens to resolve this case. If you have information, contact the authorities