Jennifer Daugherty, Mentally Disabled Woman, Trusted Everyone, Including Her Killers

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Daily Blotter

(Personal Photo)

(Facebook Photo)

(KDKA/Westmoreland County Prison)

GREENSBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) Jennifer Daugherty trusted everybody, according to her family, who said the 30-year-old had the mental abilities of an adolescent but wasn't the kind to get in trouble.

Photo: Jennifer Daugherty.

PICTURES: "Friends" Torture, Kill Disabled Woman

But apparently trouble found her. Police discovered her body Thursday stuffed into a garbage can in a school parking lot.

Police say she had been forced to consume detergent and urine — and to write a fake suicide note — before she was fatally stabbed by attackers who also shaved her head and painted her face with nail polish. Six suspects have been charged, including her new "friends."

Photo: Jennifer Daugherty.

PICTURES: "Friends" Torture, Kill Disabled Woman

"She was exploited, and her kindness and her handicap made her very vulnerable," Daugherty's sister, Joy Burkholder, said. "She trusted everybody; she believed everyone was good, and no one would hurt her."

Photo: Photo: Top L-R, Robert Masters, Melvin Knight, Ricky Ven Smyrnes; Bottom L-R, Amber Meidinger, Angela Marinucci and Peggy Miller.

PICTURES: "Friends" Torture, Kill Disabled Woman

Her parents didn't press for details when she mentioned she had made some new friends.

Daugherty's stepfather said she often traveled on her own by bus from her home in Mount Pleasant to Greensburg, about 10 miles away, for dental or counseling appointments. After she hopped onto a bus Monday, she called her folks later in the day seeking permission to spend the night at "Peggy's" house.

It was the last time she would talk to them.

Daugherty went willingly to the apartment where she was killed about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, according to police, who wouldn't discuss a motive or details on how the visit turned deadly.

She was beaten with a towel rack, vacuum cleaner hose and a crutch, and her body was bound with Christmas decorations, an affidavit said. Police said she was fed vegetable oil, medications and spices in addition to soap and urine.

She was stabbed multiple times with an unknown weapon in the neck, chest and head, Westmoreland County Coroner Kenneth Bacha said. Authorities said they found the victim's belongings in the building's attic, as well as items that had been used to clean up blood.

"She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, stumbled into a bad situation," said Greensburg Police Chief Walter Lyons.

Six people were charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping and other counts: Robert Loren Masters Jr., 36, Ricky Smyrnes, 23, Melvin Knight, 20, Amber Meidinger, 20, and Angela Marinucci, 17, all of Greensburg; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 27, of Mount Pleasant Township. All were being held without bond in the Westmoreland County prison. Prosecutors didn't know whether any of them had attorneys.

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PICTURES: "Friends" Torture, Kill Disabled Woman

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February 12, 2010 - Jennifer Daugherty (Photos): "Friends" Killed Disabled Woman, Forced Her to Write Suicide Note

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by cindydream October 14, 2011 6:43 PM EDT: SOMETHING is very seriously wrong in the USA; these horrifying crimes are happening daily.; Reply to this comment


by ElishiaWindfohr February 17, 2010 7:49 PM EST: I've already seen these guys starting to throw out they were abused card. So was she to pay the crime of those who abused you? This is all very tragic,I agree we as internet users need to post and demand justice for Jennifer. She was an angel lost tooo soon! So people we must demand justice!

Elishia Windfohr; Reply to this comment


by linfinster February 17, 2010 6:09 PM EST: WHY WHY WHY???????! OMG.; Reply to this comment


by rwsmith29456 February 17, 2010 4:15 PM EST: A bunch of losers doesn't even begin to describe this crowd. These weren't kids, they were grown people. Six people killing a mentally retarded woman? What low life. Did any of them even begin to say, "Hey, this isn't right."; Reply to this comment


by tigerlass54 February 17, 2010 2:35 PM EST: Hi I have read all the comments on this issue and I only have few thing to say the Judge better not just lock them up for thex 100 yrs they just better die soon.. I wish we had the Gallows here because then they would just loose their heads.Why should the tax payers feed them? Why should they get free care, housing,we need to set an example for the world to see that our nation will not put up with this.. Either the Gallows or the hanging tree, for I am told the hanging you don't die right away it takes 20 minutes to snuff out a life.The good book says an eye for an eye, have you all really looked at these pictures of these 6 people they have no heart or soul check them closer and the black guy already had a record, and I wonder how the 17 yr old girl's parents feel about their daughter now that she was apart of this nasty business.I have know of someone that has a daughter about the same age and the same problem and her mother had to let her go her own way to explore the world and guess what she's married to a real nice guy.How-ever other's are not so lucky and Jennifer was in the wrong place with the wrong people and they were waiting on her to get there so they could do what they all had planned on from the start. No feelings here no heart all have dead eye's like a shark... We of course could bury them deep in a fire ant hole and let the ants slowly eat them alive like the Indians did way back when, just food for thought. A slow death there... Jennifer didn't need to die in this fashion and she will not rest in peace until there's Justice,and I think all of us should pass the word along for the death not full term prison the internet is a good way to pass the word so shall we?; Reply to this comment


by motorlady February 17, 2010 2:06 PM EST: Horrific. These animals are disgusting - the scum of the earth. Just LOOK at them. Illiterate pieces of trash. .They should rot the rest of their lives away in prison. They don't even deserve to breathe.; Reply to this comment


by jackp32 February 17, 2010 11:24 AM EST: I'm available to throw the switch that eliminates this scum from the face of the earth.; Reply to this comment

by ecibu33 February 17, 2010 11:13 AM EST

My faith in humanity is fast declining (although, when I see another story of amazing genorisity, my hope returns)...

Also, calling these people animals is really not fair to animals. Animals never do such things to their own kind especially for "fun"

Reply to this comment


by victoriarl7 May 9, 2011 2:18 PM EDT: I agree! I hate when people say they're "animals". Humans are the only species capable of such atrocities.


by adepelsmaeker2648 February 17, 2010 10:47 AM EST: Put these pieces of trash in prison with Big Bubba he will take care of them. Death too easy make them pay rest of their lives in prison and make them suffer everything you could imagine in prison!; Reply to this comment


by underdogcity February 17, 2010 10:22 AM EST: Whatever punishment these low life's receive for this horrific crime, it will never ever compare to their treatment of this poor girl. May they all rot in hell!; Reply to this comment