Man gets life in murder of Aston resident

A northwestern Pennsylvania man who befriended an Aston resident in order to steal his truck will spend life in prison for killing him.

Chandler Clark, 20, of Titusville, accepted a plea agreement Wednesday in Chester County Court that spared him the threat of the death penalty for his role in the execution of Andre J. Dupuis, 32, on Aug. 6.

Police said Clark conspired with Melanie Ann Ray, 26, of Polk, to steal a vehicle so the pair, both of whom had pending charges in Western Pennsylvania, could flee to Arizona to avoid prison. The plan began unraveling, police said, when a motorcyclist found Dupuis' body partially down an embankment in West Nottingham Township on Aug. 7, launching a round-the-clock probe that led to the defendants' apprehension in Indiana several days later.

Clark and Ray, who had met Dupuis three weeks earlier, targeted him "because he was not from the immediate area" and was single and therefore would not be missed right away, the criminal complaint said.

Ray told police she and Clark had called Dupuis and asked him for a ride to a friend's house. Then, according to the plan, Ray feigned illness in a remote area and exited the car while Clark encouraged Dupuis to check on Ray, then told him "that it was not personal and that he needed the keys and the truck" before shooting Dupuis twice, the complaint said.

Dupuis, who often spent time in Chester and Lancaster Counties visiting relatives, was an operations manager at the Media branch of Brickman Group, a national commercial-landscaping company. Colleagues, who described him as an exceptionally thoughtful, generous man who enjoyed sports, said they were not surprised when more than 2,000 people attended his funeral.

Besides life without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder charge, Clark's plea agreement called for a concurrent 20- to 40-year prison term for conspiracy to commit murder and a consecutive 10- to 20-year sentence for robbery of a motor vehicle. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $12,000 to the victim's family or the crime victims' compensation fund. Ray is awaiting trial.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco called the sentence appropriate.

"Andre was a caring, gentle human being who was willing to help anyone he could. Chandler Clark took advantage of that generosity, murdered Andre in cold blood, and then threw his body away like a piece of trash," Ost-Prisco said. "Clark will now spend the rest of his life in a cage, where he belongs."