Shot in the chest, 27-year old David G. Gombert stumbled into Eric M. Mumaw's garage and collapsed.

Mumaw, charged with firing the gun at his romantic rival, told Gombert he'd call 911 for help.Instead, police said, he dragged Gombert's body outside, took the gun upstairs to his apartment, and then took cellphone pictures of the dead man.After listening to about five hours of testimony Friday, District Judge Stephen J. Bayer of Tamaqua found sufficient evidence to send first degree murder and related charges against Mumaw, 29, of 34 James St., McAdoo, on to Schuylkill County court.In addition to the homicide charge, Mumaw also faces charges of voluntary manslaughter, prohibited offensive weapons, possessing an instrument of crime, simple and aggravated assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.He is being held without bail in Schuylkill County prison.Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Foose and Assistant District Attorney Kimm M. Montone are prosecuting the case.According to testimony, hostile Facebook posts fanned the flames of the rivalry that led to Gombert's death on Nov. 1, 2016.Police said that hours before the shooting, Mumaw texted a picture of Gombert to someone with the words, "I will kill him."During the preliminary hearing, held in the county courthouse, Mumaw's lawyer, Andrew J. Katsock III, suggested Mumaw acted in self-defense after being attacked by Gombert, of Beaver Meadows, in the garage under his home.Gombert, Katsock said, came to Mumaw's house and the two were struggling on the threshold when the gun went off.He called as a witness Mumaw's former girlfriend, Kirsten Konkowski, who was then dating Gombert. She testified that Gombert was angry about Mumaw's Facebook posts and had gone to confront him, but did not intend to harm him.But state troopers testified the evidence shows the confrontation and shooting happened outside the garage, and that Mumaw changed details of his stories several times over the course of about eight hours of interviews.He said Gombert attacked him, then that he threw the first punch, with bare hands, or in another version, with brass knuckles.Trooper Scott Brennan of the Jonestown barracks sat in on troopers' interviews with Mumaw at the Frackville barracks."I felt he was not being honest at all," Brennan testified.He said Mumaw admitted being angry about the situation with Konkowski. It was a photo of Gombert and Konkowski drinking wine together, sent to Mumaw by Gombert, that triggered the altercation, the trooper said."He was angry. It just built up," Brennan said.Gombert pulled up to Mumaw's house at about 9 a.m. Nov. 1, just after Mumaw had arrived home from work.He called to Mumaw to come out. Mumaw told Brennan he grabbed brass knuckles and his handgun, and went out to confront Gombert.Mumaw changed details of his story several times, Brennan said.Mumaw told the trooper the two scuffled outside, with Gombert eventually ending up sitting on the ground with his back against the garage door and Mumaw kneeling between his knees.Gombert briefly raised his hands, Brennan said, and Mumaw shot him in the chest.Gombert stumbled inside the garage and collapsed, telling Mumaw, "I'm dying."Mumaw said he'd get help, but closed the garage door and dragged Gombert outside before calling 911.He admitted to Brennan that he took pictures of Gombert, lying dead in the driveway.Brennan said he asked Mumaw if it was "fair to say you were taking pictures like he was a trophy buck?"Mumaw said yes, the trooper testified.After their interview, Brennan said Mumaw asked for a hug; Brennan obliged.In addition to Brennan, Foose called six witnesses to testify: McAdoo patrolman Frederick A. Lahovski; trooper Alan J. Zulick of the Frackville barracks; trooper Scott Brennan of the Reading barracks; Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Louis D. Truskowsky; Cpl. David Dupree of the Reading barracks, who is the forensic unit supervisor; and trooper Eric Schaeffer of the Reading barracks.Lahovski testified about being first on scene, arriving to find Mumaw standing over Gombert's body, cellphone in hand.Gombert's face was all bloody and he had a gunshot wound to his chest.Lahovski also found two shell casings, one at Gombert's feet and the other about 15 feet away.He also saw a handgun, with the magazine next to it, on the front seat of Gombert's running car.There was a pool of blood in the garage, with a swath of blood arcing from it to Gombert's body.Truskowsky testified that Gombert had a gunshot wound to the chest and that a struggled had taken place. He pronounced Gombert dead at 9:52 a.m.Dupree testified that there were drops of blood on the stairs and walls to Mumaw's apartment. A bullet had taken off part of Mumaw's ring finger, he said.The was more blood on the door and walls of Mumaw's apartment, and a bloody gun on a desk in the bedroom.He found a fingernail and small chunk of flesh at the base of the outside of a garage door, blood spatter and a bullet hole that indicated a bullet had gone in from the outside.A total of four bullet casings were found.Mumaw's phone has several pictures of Gombert's dead body, taken between 9:07 and 9:12 a.m. Nov. 1, 2016.Schaeffer testified that he took Mumaw to the Frackville barracks. Mumaw refused medical help for his finger at the scene, but was in pain, so Schaeffer called an ambulance to take him to a Pottsville hospital.Mumaw told Schaeffer that Gombert had attacked him and the gun went off in the ensuing struggle.Only one shot was fired, he told the trooper.Mumaw told Schaeffer at one point that Gombert "fell into the garage" during the scuffle, contradicting his claims that the struggle and shooting happened inside.He described Mumaw as "happy-go-lucky" during the interview.In a second interview, on Nov. 3, Mumaw told Schaeffer he acted in self-defense. His story of how the gun came out changed several times, from being in his pocket, then at his side, then out of his pocket in his hand during the scuffle.At one point, he told Schaeffer, Gombert had the gun and pressed the barrel into Mumaw's chest.Mumaw's statements did not align with the physical evidence, Schaeffer said.Toward the end of the interview, Mumaw was smirking, the trooper testified.Schaeffer read aloud the Facebook posts by Mumaw."I need someone found, and brought to me, there will be a reward, there will be various other rewards for also just a simple knock out and a quick snapshot or video of it sent to me," he wrote."I'll provide the name and general location of the individual. Hope it's a fun purge for all you sick (obscenity)," Mumaw posted.Schaeffer testified that despite Mumaw's claims that Gombert had attacked him, there were no bruises on his body aside from a small red mark by his nose.