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New details into the circumstances and, ultimately, the murder of Marcus Mattson have been revealed.
"The Commonwealth believes James McDaniel invited him over to kill him," District Attorney Rob Greene said while taking questions from the Times Observer following McDaniel's plea and sentencing proceedings on Friday.
Marcus Mattson - the 18-year-old murder victim of James McDaniel, who was sentenced to life in prison on Friday - was last seen alive on February 5, 2016.
Mattson left for work at approximately 11 a.m. that Friday in a gold 2004 Ford Explorer.
When he didn't return home on time, a person he was living with contacted Pennsylvania State Police to report him missing on February 6.
Police were also contacted by Mattson's mother, Ellie Holt, who said that she hadn't heard from Mattson and that she was concerned for his well-being.
The following evening, state police said, a vehicle was found "in a remote location off of Murray Hill Road" after a passerby saw and reported the vehicle on fire.
"I'm comfortable saying the fire was set," State Police Lt. Wayne Kline said at the time McDaniel was arrested.
Three people who shared the vehicle with Mattson looked it over Tuesday, Feb. 9 at the state police barracks in Starbrick. They told police the rims on the torched vehicle were different from the ones last seen on it Friday.
The interviews led police to contact the Ebensburg barracks in Cambria County to contact Gary R. Williams, McDaniel's half-brother.
Williams reportedly told police the rims were given to him by McDaniel on Sunday, Feb. 7, and that they had been in a garage at 275 Abraham Hollow Road.
On Wednesday, Feb. 10, police contacted the owners of that property, Clifford and Ingrid Adams, who reported that McDaniel had had access to the property.
Greene said McDaniel was living at the Abraham Hollow residence along with his wife and two children - now ages four and three - when the killing occurred.
Later that day, state police interviewed Ailasha A. McDaniel, James' wife. She told police that James told her he had "taken care of the problem" and that she knew he meant he had killed Mattson.
Greene declined to comment on the record when asked why Mattson was believed to be "the problem."
Part of the plea agreement and sentence was that charges would not be brought against McDaniel's wife.
Greene said that McDaniel did ask for that as a provision and said that the Commonwealth had no issue with that as they didn't believe that she was culpable in the murder. Further, he said, the Commonwealth views McDaniel's wife "as a victim of domestic violence at the hand of the defendant."
James McDaniel was interviewed that evening.
Police said McDaniel confessed to killing Mattson.
McDaniel told police Mattson met him at 275 Abraham Hollow where "a drug transaction involving money was to occur," police said.
He then told police Mattson tried to rob him of $2,500, at which point McDaniel said he went for a gun in the crawlspace of the residence.
Greene said that McDaniel and Mattson worked together at Bair's Pizza in Russell.
He did not, however, believe McDaniel's story of what happened, calling it "completely incredible. There is no credit to it."
Greene said that the Commonwealth "knows it is false."
One thing remains unclear - why Mattson was at McDaniel's residence to begin with.
Greene called that something we "may never know" but alleged that McDaniel invited him over in order to kill him.
Police reported that McDaniel said he shot Mattson when he followed him into the crawlspace.
Greene concurred, noting that McDaniel shot Mattson one time in the head at "very close range" and that they believe the killing occurred in the crawlspace where the body was found.
McDaniel told police he couldn't move Mattson's body so he and Williams then tried to burn it where it was to dispose of it.
The crawlspace - roughly four feet high - has a dirt floor.
McDaniel and Williams then drove separate vehicles, including the Ford Explorer driven to the scene by Mattson, to Murray Hill Road, according to police.
McDaniel said Williams dumped turpentine on the vehicle seats and used a road flare to ignite the fluid before they fled the scene together.
In July, Warren County District Attorney Rob Greene filed a notice indicating that, "new evidence was discovered by the Commonwealth which alleges that the defendant, James Anthony McDaniel, tortured the victim, Marcus Allen Mattson, during the alleged offense at count one of the criminal information; to wit, Criminal Homicide."
"Notice is hereby given to James Anthony McDaniel that at sentencing, the Commonwealth intends to pursue the penalty of death due to the aggravating circumstance as enumerated," Greene wrote in the filing. The statutes he listed for the aggravating circumstances relate to "torture" and "committing the killing while in the perpetration of a felony - arson at counts two and three."
On Friday, Greene declined to cite the actions of McDaniel that were torture, indicating his intent to show respect for the family and not go into those specific details.
Though Greene initially said at the time of the preliminary hearing that a plea was unlikely in this matter, he said on Friday that the specifics of the plea were negotiation "over the past few months."
"There's no winners in this," Greene said. "The plea negotiations came through extensive negotiations talking with Ellie (Holt, Mattson's mother).
The plea prevents "them from having to go through ordeal of a trial and a circus which would not do Marcus any justice. I think this is the appropriate plea."
He thanked the Pennsylvania State Police and their Forensic team from Erie.
"They did a fantastic job," he said, "making sure that McDaniel found his new home with the state correctional institution."