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Man charged with murder for body found in suitcase

A man whose murdered body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Tinicum Township last month was slain by his former roommate, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

A man whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Tinicum Township last month was slain by his former roommate, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors announced today that Thomas Brennan, 25, of Philadelphia, was arrested last night and charged with murder and related offenses for the death of 41-year-old Scott Stephen Bernheisel.

Bernheisel's body was discovered in a suitcase in a weedy area off of 2nd Avenue near 4th Street in Tinicum Township by a man out walking his dog on May 28th, according to police.

An autopsy performed on Bernheisel's body revealed that he died from multiple blunt force injuries and a stab wound to his neck.

Following the autopsy results, investigators spoke with a friend of Bernheisel's who said he'd been staying in a house on Wilder Street near Second in the Pennsport section of Philadelphia. A man who lives at that house told police Bernheisel had stayed there for just about a month and he'd last seen him on May 14th. The resident told police he was introduced to the victim by Brennan, who also stays at the house on Wilder Street at times, prosecutors said.

The resident, who was not identified by authorities, also told police another person who lives at the house was missing a sleeping bag. When asked if he owned any luggage, the resident told police that there was a suitcase under the stairs that his ex-wife used to store Christmas decorations, but when police went to look for the suitcase, it was gone.

Prosecutors did not release a motive for the alleged slaying, nor did they release the time and location where the alleged crime was committed. In a news release, prosecutors said Brennan's arrest was based on "witness accounts, and the investigation."

"Thomas Brennan murdered Scott Stephen Bernheisel and stored him in a closet, in a sleeping bag, in a house on the 200 block of Wilder Street in Philadelphia, and then transported him to Tinicum Township in a suitcase, which he left on the side of the road," the release read.