After five previous trial dates were continued, jury selection is finally scheduled today for the trial of 23-year-old Dylan Blair of Saltsburg, who is accused of supplying the drugs that killed a woman on the day after Christmas in 2016.
Blair is charged with drug delivery resulting in death and three counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. 38-year-old Michelle Spillar took a deadly mix of fentanyl and heroin at her home in Derry. Her body was found next to her bed with an empty stamp bag and two full bags of fentanyl-laced heroin beside her.
Blair was identified as the suspect and was eventually tracked down by Westmoreland County detectives at the Days Inn in Burrell Township in May of 2017. When they entered his rented room, they found another man, Edward Russian of Saltsburg, in the process of overdosing. He revived and eventually pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia, while Blair pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, and both were sentenced to a year of probation.
The last attempt at a trial was on December 2nd. It was continued to today’s date and on January 23rd, Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled that it would remain on the schedule for today.
