Corey M. Samuels suffered a crushed jaw, broken nose and stab wounds in the back of his skull as he died in the snow on the night of Jan, 20, 2014, in the woods at the end of Miner Street in Coaldale.

Later that month, then 16-year-old Stanley E. Kralik told a classmate he killed Samuels, 24, according to testimony on the opening day of Kralik's murder trial in Schuylkill County court Monday.The trial continued today before Judge John E. Domalakes, with testimony from Oliver L. Trizarri, 22, of Reading, who on Feb. 19 pleaded guilty to conspiracy and third degree murder.Police believe Kralik and Trizarri lured Samuels, a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Haiti, into the woods and beat him to death.State police trooper Melissa Kyper charged Kralik, now 18, and Trizarri with criminal homicide, murder in the first degree, murder in the third degree, robbery, aggravated assault and theft, along with two felony counts of conspiracy.District Attorney Christine A. Holman is not seeking the death penalty for Kralik because he was under 18 when the crime was committed.Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Lehman and Assistant District Attorney Keith D. Hoppes are prosecuting the case against Kralik, who is represented by Claude A. Lord Shields.Police interviewState police Cpl. Jeffrey Sampson, head of the criminal investigation unit at the Frackville state police barracks, testified that he interviewed Kralik on Jan. 11, 2015, with Kralik's father present.Kralik changed his story three times during their interview, he said. Under cross examination by Shields, Sampson said it was not unusual for a juvenile to do that.Kralik first said after an argument about Samuels' complaints about his girlfriend as the three walked in the woods that night, Kralik left. In the second version, Kralik said he and Trizarri discussed taking Samuels into the woods and "beating him up a little bit to teach him a lesson" for allegedly sexually assaulting Kralik's ex-girlfriend.In the third version, Kralik told Sampson he became involved when Trizarri attacked Samuels with the shovel, but didn't hit Samuels.Kralik told the trooper that as he walked away, he could hear Trizarri hit Samuels with the shovel they had brought to the woods to rake embers from a planned camp fire.Sampson testified that although police had not told Kralik where Samuels' injuries were, Kralik knew.Kralik told the trooper he was "surprised no one heard Samuels scream, given the close proximity of houses," Sampson testified."Why would he scream?" Sampson said he asked Kralik.He said Kralik responded that "he was probably involved in bad stuff and was killed."Sampson said Kralik described Trizarri, who had lived with him and his father in their Coaldale home for several weeks, as "truthful, blunt. A pretty honest guy. If he stole something from someone, he wouldn't lie about it."Trooper Wesley Levan interviewed Kralik on Jan. 9, 2015.Kralik told him he left the group after Samuels complained about his girlfriend, and that Samuels continued on to a party in the woods. That was the last time he saw Samuels, Kralik told the trooper.ClassmatesThe jury of seven men and five women on Monday listened to testimony from Kralik's classmate, Danielle Dillee, 19, who said they were sitting in the school library in the latter part of January 2014 when Kralik told her that he "basically just killed this guy."She told no one, she testified, because she didn't believe him because "he would tell a lot of stories."Another of Kralik's friends, Jacob Staines, said that around the same time, he was at Kralik's house playing video games when Kralik told him he had killed someone.Staines said he brushed off Kralik's statement as a joke. Trizarri, who was also at Kralik's house at the time, backed Kralik's statement, but Staines still didn't believe him.Both witnesses said Kralik showed them a rosary pendant Samuels always carried in his wallet, and a shovel Kralik said was used in the killing. Both objects were at Kralik's house.ForensicsForensic anthropologist Dennis Dirkmaat of Mercyhurst University, Erie, testified Samuels' skull revealed a crushed jaw sustained by an upward blow from a blunt, heavy object, a broken nose, and a stab wound to the back of the skull on the right-hand side.Dirkmaat used slides of Samuels' bones to illustrate his testimony. The remains were found by Jamie Snyder as he hunted for mushrooms with his children on Sept. 6, 2015.Samuels' mother, Linda Fenstermaker, clutching a tissue box, fought tears as the slides were shown.Samuels' father, accompanied by a service dog, was also in the courtroom.Schuylkill County coroner Dr. David Moylan testified Samuels died from blunt force trauma.Also testifying were Samuels' sister, Kristin Sawicki, who testified about reporting her brother to police as a missing person; Samuels' girlfriend, Tara Kurtz, who testified that Kralik, Trizarri and Samuels went to the woods for a "guys' night" from which she was excluded by Kralik.Coaldale police Sgt. Keith Krapf testified about securing the scene and calling in state police after Snyder reported finding the remains. He said Kralik told him the trio went into the woods to drink beer and smoke pot, but split up after arguing, with Samuels going in the opposite direction from him and Trizarri.State trooper Cpl. David Dupree described the location of the remains and how the scene was processed; trooper Jacob M. Shelak testified about finding the shovel in Kralik's backyard, and Samuels' rosary pendant on a dryer in the basement.Kralik's friend Gavin Joret testified he hung out that night at Kralik's house with Kurtz, Kralik, Samuels and Trizarri before Kralik, Samuels and Trizarri went into the woods.