Missing man’s body found; Westminster men charged with murder

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office says the body of a man reported missing earlier this week has been found in the rubble of his burned trailer, and they have charged two Westminster men with his murder. Sixty-one year old Richard Alan Marszalek was reported missing by his neice on Wednesday. Marszalek was last seen walking on West Spearman Road in late December. His last known address was 141 West Spearman Road, a mobile home which burned on January 4. Police Spokesman Jimmy Watt says tips led investigators to send heavy equipment to the burn site Friday, where they found the body in the rubble. Watt says police have charged 28 year-old Joshua Michael Fulbright of Isundega Street, Westminster, and arrested and charged 27 year-old Patrick Grant Covone, of West Spearman Road, Westminster. Both men are charged with murder. Watt says Fulbright has been in jail since January 12 on unrelated charges. Police think an altercation resulting in blunt force trauma led to Marszalek’s death sometime between December 27 and December 29. Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis will conduct an autopty on Marszalek.