MARION COUNTY — The Marion County Sheriff’s Department had heavy security present in court Tuesday for the preliminary hearings of the five defendants accused in the December 3, 2019, murder of 39-year-old Clendar Edmond.
Deputy Detective Sergeant Anthony Decker provided the only testimony given in court Tuesday, laying out over nearly two hours the details surrounding Edmonds shooting death and the disposal of his remains.
According to Decker, law enforcement was unaware of a shooting and no one had reported Edmond missing when Centralia police arrested 30-year-old Krystal Scerba on December 6, 2019, for alleged drug possession.
Decker says he was contacted by CPD Detective Sean Richards saying Scerba was asking for special consideration on her drug arrest in exchange for information regarding a shooting death a few days earlier at a residence on Green Street Road just east of Central City.
Decker says he never agreed to give Scerba special consideration on the drug arrest. But as of this date she has not been charged in connection with her December 6 arrest.
Scerba’s initial statements to both CPD and Decker indicated 26-year-old Mantez Duncan had directed her and 28-year-old Blake Shahan to pick up Edmond at the Industrial Tavern in Wamac and take him to 53-year-old Cardell Thomas’ home at 616 Green Street Road.
The three men and 27-year-old Darledria Flippen were all questioned and initially denied any knowledge of a shooting.
However, Decker continued his investigation, which led to witnesses from the bar saying Edmond was carrying a large amount of cash when Scerba and Shahan picked him up in the early morning hours of December 3. Other witnesses from the area told Decker of gunshots being heard near Thomas’ residence on that same morning.
On December 12, Decker secured the services of a cadaver K-9 handler and along with a number of other law enforcement agents went to the woods just east of Thomas’ home where a deputy quickly found a burn pile that held charred human remains.
He said there was a torso and left arm on the burn pile but the pelvis region was “obliterated” and animals had carried off the legs.
When confronted with the information that human remains had been located in a blue tarp approximately 100 yards from his home, Thomas changed his story.
He said Edmond, Scerba, and Shahan arrived at his home on December 3, and that Edmond had stolen money from Duncan.
Statements from the defendants then began to more closely match up, with the exception of Duncan who refused to be questioned.
Decker said Edmond’s had security video from the tavern showed Edmond’s had been picked up by Scerba and Shahan. He said he was then taken to Thomas’ home where he was first beaten and then sat on a couch in Thomas’ home where he left bloodstains. Then at Thomas’ direction, Scerba allegedly cleaned the blood from the couch and surrounding area.
A short time later, Duncan and Flippen allegedly arrived and Flippen was given a black bag taken from Edmond that contained a large amount of cash and told to leave.
Edmond was then allegedly taken at gunpoint into the garage where a blue tarp had been spread out on the floor. As he begged for his life, Edmond was asked for the location of cash. He reportedly gave Duncan a location and that information was then given to Flippen who was told to find the money.
When she was apparently unsuccessful in locating the cash, Duncan allegedly shot Edmond multiple times. Duncan and Shahan then reportedly rolled Edmond’s body up in the tarp, loaded it into the back of Thomas’ truck and took the body out to the woods where it was covered with brush and gasoline and set on fire.
Following Decker’s testimony, four of the five defendants waived formal arraignment, pleaded not guilty and demanded jury trials. Shahan, who is in custody of the Department of Corrections, was not present for Tuesday’s hearing. His preliminary hearing was rescheduled for next Tuesday.
The other four defendants are next due in court February 12, for pretrial hearings in the case.
Scerba, Thomas, Flippen, and Shahan are all charged with one count each first-degree murder, while Flippen is additionally charged with Class S armed robbery. Duncan is charged with two-counts first degree murder.