CLEARFIELD – A Woodland woman has negotiated a plea agreement in relation to her involvement with the August of 2017 murder of Chase Anderson, 19, of Curwensville.
Chantell Renee Demi, 27, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping to inflict injury or terror, conspiracy/kidnapping, abuse of corpse, conspiracy/abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence.
In a second case, she has pleaded guilty to arson, conspiracy/arson, conspiracy to aid arson, tampering with evidence and conspiracy/tampering with evidence. In a third case, she has pleaded guilty to drug- and firearms-related charges.
Demi will receive a minimum sentence of 20 to 40 years of incarceration. She is to cooperate with the commonwealth in the prosecution of her co-defendants as part of the agreement.
Though she’s scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 2, Demi has agreed to waive the provisions of any time period in which she must be sentenced.
In early April, Kenja Kasheem Tew, 22, of Glen Richey and Denny Scott Bailey, 38, of Woodland were charged with criminal homicide, assault, kidnapping to inflict injury or terror, conspiracy and related charges for Anderson’s death.
According to previously-published GANT News reports, the investigation began when Anderson’s mother reported him missing Aug. 22, 2017 to the Curwensville Borough Police Department.
Through witness interviews, it was learned that Tew had allegedly made comments that Anderson was “not coming back alive” or “not coming back at all.”
After Tew was in custody, he took investigators from the Pennsylvania State Police to Anderson’s burnt and decomposed body in a wooded area in Pike Township.
On Sept. 19, 2017, Bailey showed investigators where he’d buried the murder weapons near his residence.
Investigators also learned that Tew and Bailey had used the “ruse” of a drug package to get Anderson to the wooded area where they murdered him. Once there, they assaulted him; each alleged the other stabbed Anderson several times before burning his body.
Demi told investigators that she went to the store and bought duct tape, garbage bags, etc., for Bailey. She admitted to picking out the location and helping Tew and Bailey clean up when they got home after the murder.
Later Demi helped destroy the vehicle that Bailey and Tew used to take Anderson into the woods. She was allegedly assisted by Joseph Ralston, 38, of Curwensville, who has also been charged for his involvement in the cover up.
The cases against Tew, Bailey and Ralston are still pending in the Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas.
