CLEARFIELD – A Brookville man accused of providing the heroin that resulted in another man’s overdose death waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during Centralized Court at the Clearfield County Jail.
Mark Darren Shaffer, 46, of Brookville has been charged with drug delivery resulting in death; intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered; involuntary manslaughter; and recklessly endangering another person.
Shaffer’s bail was modified from $100,000 monetary to unsecured at his hearing by Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins. Shaffer has been placed in a drug treatment center, said Hawkins.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on July 19, 2014, state police at Clearfield received information about a drug overdose in which the alleged victim had been transported by ambulance to the Clearfield Penn Highlands Hospital from Curwensville Borough.
Upon arrival state police learned the alleged victim was registered to the hospital at 1:30 a.m. State police also learned the alleged victim had suffered from cardiac arrest, and tests had confirmed the presence of alcohol and opiates within his body.
At the hospital, state police interviewed a woman who said she and the alleged victim went to pick up Shaffer on July 18, 2014. She said the three of them went to the Moose Campground and arrived between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
According to the woman, she went to bed shortly after they got to the campground. She said the alleged victim and Shaffer stayed outside. While sleeping, she heard Shaffer yell her name and say there was something wrong with the alleged victim.
The woman said she ran outside and opened the door to her vehicle where she observed the alleged victim. When she opened the door, she said the alleged victim fell onto the ground. The woman told state police that at this point, she believed that the alleged victim was drunk, tried to get him to move and found him to be unresponsive.
According to the woman, she determined that the alleged victim wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse. She had Shaffer call 911 but he handed her the phone, saying “I gotta get outta here I’m wanted.” Shaffer, she said, then ran off and she gave the alleged victim CPR until an ambulance arrived at the scene.
The woman told state police that she’s never known the alleged victim to use drugs for recreational purposes. However, she indicated that the alleged victim was a “big drinker” and tends to get “adventurous” when he does drink. The woman told state police it wouldn’t have taken much for Shaffer to talk the alleged victim into using drugs if he was drunk.
While at the hospital, the woman said that Shaffer attempted to call her from the alleged victim’s phone. She didn’t answer the call. She said that during the incident, Shaffer told her the alleged victim had “the size of a match” but never explained what he was talking about.
On July 20, 2014, state police took possession of the alleged victim’s phone. State police located a message from 2:52 a.m. July 19, 2014, which was during the time it was in Shaffer’s possession. The message read, “I’m so sorry buddy. Never will you [talk] me into anything again … just be alright old buddy.”
On July 21, 2014, state police requested the phone records from Clearfield 911. Upon review state police found a male had called 911 to relate a man wasn’t breathing. He identified himself as “James Shaffer.” After providing a few details, the male handed the phone to a woman who at one point asked a male named “Mark” about going to the parking lot to meet an ambulance.
On Aug. 6, 2014, Shaffer was interviewed at the state police at Punxsutawney. Shaffer acknowledged that he was with the alleged victim on the date in question. He said that the alleged victim was drinking heavily that night.
According to Shaffer, he and the alleged victim went to the Moose Club. While coming out of the club, he said that the alleged victim’s chest was gurgling like he was having difficulty breathing.
Shaffer said that the alleged victim wanted to do some drugs that Shaffer had on him. Shaffer said he told the alleged victim “no” but the alleged victim continued to ask and ended up doing it. Shaffer said the alleged victim’s death happened so quickly.
Shaffer told state police that the alleged victim snorted the heroin. He said that he had a container on his knee and when the alleged victim went down on the container the heroin was on, he blew out. Shaffer said that the alleged victim commented that he wasn’t doing it right, licked his finger and put it in his mouth.
Shaffer said that he and the alleged victim started to talk but then the alleged victim became unresponsive. He got the woman and then he called for an ambulance.
According to Shaffer, the alleged victim asked for the heroin, opened up the packet and put it into the container. He said that the alleged victim didn’t ingest a lot, as it was only seconds between the time he snorted it and became unresponsive.
Shaffer said he had 10 total packets of heroin that night. He said that he used eight, gave one to the alleged victim and then kept one. Shaffer said he gave the packet of heroin to the alleged victim and there wasn’t any exchange involving money.
When asked by state police, Shaffer said he didn’t believe he was responsible for what happened to the alleged victim, as it was his decision to use the drugs. When asked by state police if he’d take back his decision to give heroin to the alleged victim, Shaffer said he would.
On Jan. 20, state police interviewed Shaffer at the Jefferson County Jail. When asked, Shaffer told state police he traveled to Pittsburgh a lot to purchase drugs; however, he had purchased the heroin from the night in question in Clearfield. Shaffer said he made the purchase near the Elks but didn’t recall who he purchased it from. Shaffer also was unable to provide information about how he came into the contact with the person he purchased the heroin from.
Shaffer said that night, the alleged victim wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He said he wished he’d told the alleged victim “no” one more time and not given him anything.
An autopsy and toxicology were performed on the alleged victim. The cause of death was determined to be a multi-drug overdose, according to the affidavit.