Authorities say the suspects lived with Ralph Brown before a dispute over money turned deadly.

UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Two people who had been living with 71-year-old Ralph Brown are charged with killing him, taking money from him and leaving his wrapped body near railroad tracks in Fayette County, prosecutors said.

The charges against Terry Newland, 58, and Alysha Riggans, 30, turned a death investigation near West Kerr Street into a case centered on Brown’s home life, his bank accounts and the short stay that prosecutors say became months of conflict. Both defendants face criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and evidence-tampering charges. Riggans also faces theft and access-device charges.

Brown’s body was found Sunday, April 5, along an active railway near Kerr Street, just outside the Uniontown city limits. Pennsylvania State Police were called to the area after the discovery and soon identified the victim as Brown, a 71-year-old Uniontown man. Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele said Newland and Riggans had been living with Brown at his Crow Avenue home before the killing. “This was a very, very callous, cold and calculated crime,” Aubele said. Investigators later went to Brown’s home, where Aubele said they met the two defendants and immediately saw items that appeared to have forensic value, including possible blood.

Authorities said the case began before the body was found, inside a living arrangement that had broken down. Aubele said Newland and Riggans first took a room for what was supposed to be a short stay. They later changed their address, he said, which made it harder for Brown to remove them from the home. Brown wanted them out for months, according to the district attorney, and the three had argued about money in the days before he died. Prosecutors say the defendants conspired to kill Brown and steal from him. Riggans told investigators that Brown returned home Wednesday, April 1, and that she saw Newland stab him in the neck with a knife, then beat him in the head with a table, according to police details reported in the case.

The account given to investigators describes a killing followed by two days of efforts to hide what happened. Riggans said she and Newland tied a bag around Brown’s head, wrapped his feet with cords and kept his body in the basement, authorities said. Investigators allege the body was later wrapped in a blanket and moved out of the house around 4 a.m. Saturday, April 4. It was left in grass near the railway off West Kerr Street, where it was found the next day. The district attorney’s office said the railway was active. Prosecutors have not said whether Brown died immediately after the alleged assault, and the public record reviewed so far does not include a full autopsy report.

Money became a central part of the criminal complaint. Authorities said Riggans took cash from Brown’s pockets while his body was in the basement. Investigators also allege she used his debit card and spent more than $600. Prosecutors have said Brown’s bank accounts were accessed after his death, which helped investigators trace the case back to the people living with him. The DA’s office has not publicly released a full accounting of the amount missing from Brown’s accounts. Aubele said investigators moved quickly after Brown was identified and after the home on Crow Avenue was connected to the body found by the tracks.

Newland and Riggans were arrested and arraigned early Monday, April 6. Both were sent to the Fayette County Jail without bond. Court records cited in reports show the criminal homicide counts are among the most serious charges filed, while the abuse-of-corpse and tampering counts focus on what prosecutors say happened after Brown was killed. Riggans faces additional allegations tied to theft by unlawful taking and use of an access device to obtain property or services. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court. The case was investigated by Pennsylvania State Police in Uniontown and is being prosecuted by the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office.

The killing drew attention because prosecutors said Brown had allowed the pair into his home before the relationship soured. Aubele said the suspects were not strangers pulled from a distant lead, but people found when investigators followed the case back to the house. “They were going to basically take a room for a short period of time and ended up changing their address to a point where he really couldn’t get them out,” Aubele said. He also said people in the community described Brown as beloved. The statement placed the case not only in the criminal court system, but also in a neighborhood where a private housing dispute ended with a public discovery by the railroad tracks.

Uniontown is a Fayette County city south of Pittsburgh, and the area where Brown’s body was found sits near the edge of the city and North Union Township. Local reports described the discovery as occurring on Easter Sunday. Police have not publicly identified the person who first found the body or said how long it had been near the tracks before authorities arrived. The known timeline places the alleged killing on April 1, the movement of the body on April 4 and the discovery on April 5. By the morning of April 6, prosecutors had announced charges against both defendants.

Several facts remain unresolved in the public record. Authorities have not released the final autopsy findings, a complete list of evidence seized from the Crow Avenue home or any statement from defense attorneys. It was also not immediately clear whether either defendant entered a plea at the first court appearance. A preliminary hearing was set for April 20 before Magisterial District Judge Jennifer L. Jeffries. At that stage, prosecutors would need to show enough evidence for the case to move forward in court.

The case now stands as a homicide prosecution against two people accused of killing the man who housed them, hiding his body and using his money. As of April 28, both defendants were last reported held without bond while the court process continued in Fayette County.

Author note: Last updated April 28, 2026.