Homicide charges for man who dumped brother-in-law’s body underneath reefer trailer at grocery store

A man is facing homicide charges after dumping his brother-in-law’s body underneath a refrigerated trailer parked behind a grocery store. 

The body was discovered at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, March 2nd near Amanda Street and Wynoka Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

According to 11 News, police arrived at the scene behind a Shop n’ Save supermarket on reports of a body underneath a refrigerated trailer backed up to a loading bay at the business. A medical examiner soon identified the body, and determined the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. 

Police were able to determine where the victim lived, and went to his home, where they met Steven Thomas, who described the victim as his brother-in-law. Thomas initially told officers he had not seen the victim since the previous Friday, and was brought to police headquarters for questioning. 

During questioning at the police station, Thomas admitted to investigators that he and the victim had been arguing on Friday night when Thomas pushed him. The push caused the victim to hit a wall and fall to the ground, leaving him bleeding from the head. Thomas says the victim appeared to be dead and that made him “scared,” so he put the body in a duffel bag so “no one could see him dead.” Thomas then told officers he loaded the bag into the back of a car and unloaded his brother-in-law’s body beneath the parked trailer, which was not far from the house. 

Thomas is facing multiple charges including criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. No further information has been released.