NEW BERLIN —
New Berlin Yoga Master Sudharman was murdered, the victim of multiple gunshots from a small-caliber weapon, and a suspect is now in custody, state police at Milton said this afternoon.
State police Trooper Matthew Burrows said Sudharman, also known as Joe Fenton, died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. The cause of death was established during an autopsy today in Allentown.
A St. Louis, Missouri, man has been taken into custody in Maryland in connection with the crime.
The suspect, Joel R. Snider, 33, was arrested Wednesday morning in Baltimore County without incident, Burrows said. Snider will be extradited to Pennsylvania, but police did not have a time frame for when that extradition would take place.
According to arrest papers, the suspect and the victim both had ties to Yogaville in Buckingham County, Virginia, and Snider had developted a "methodical plan" to carry out Sudharman's murder.
Sudharman was found dead late Monday afternoon on the floor of his living quarters at the Integral Yoga Center on Market Street in New Berlin. The body, found by a fellow teacher, was wrapped in blankets and was located just below the 8-foot-high loft in which Sudharman slept.
According to court documents that became public with Snider's arrest, Sudharman's body was wrapped in two sheets and a comforter with duct tape wrapped around the outside. Investigators at the scene noted that the victim had an apparent gunshot wound to the neck.
News of Sudharman's death triggered a series of events leading to Snider's arrest, court documents reveal.
Swami Karunananda, a staff member at Yogaville in Buckingham County, Virginia, contacted police after hearing of Sudharman's death. She told police about a series of e-mails she received from Snider, who she has known for 10 years.
In one e-mail, Snider indicated that he wanted to carry out an "assassination" of Sudharman and another man, Andrew Cohen, according to arrest papers.
In another e-mail to Karunananda, Snider wrote, "I am thinking that for both Andrew and Sudharman, it would be best if they just disappeared. No bullet holes, no blood, no signs of forced entry or struggle. Both appear to be mysterious, eccentric spiritual guys, so it might be easily believable that they would just take off for awhile...This way, there is less chance for an investigation, less chance that it could be traced back to me. This will take a little more planning and could be risky to get close, but with God as my guide, I am sure I will be just fine," court documents state.
Police also noted in arrest papers that Snider described New Berlin as a "very small town which is very dark at night, few street lights."
Snider also describes a plan. In court papers he is quoted: "Place tarp on floor, roll body up in tarp, carry out to car. Tidy up yoga center. Drive to hotel room."
The victim, the son of a prison worker and nurse, moved to Lewisburg when he was 12. A Lewisburg Dragons football star, he went to Cornell University on an athletic and academic scholarship, graduated in 1961 with a degree in zoology and planned to attend medical school.
Instead, he went into business, eventually working as general manager of a minor league football team. In the mid-1960s, he entered the U.S. Navy and became a member of an elite special operations unit.
According to court documents, Snider wrote in an e-mail sent on July 4 that he would celebrate Sudharman's death.
"If the opportunity presents itself, there will be a great celebration of independence. May God's might be swift and strong. May evil be utterly destroyed wherever it is lurking. May all be set free from the clutches of evil, for good, for all time,"
More information will be published as it becomes available.
