A Pennsylvania man has been jailed for allegedly beating a man he considered a father figure to death after an argument about COVID-19 and a deadbolt key.
Kyle Bartram, 37, told police he had known Keith Monn, 61, for a decade and had lived with him since 2019, The Evening Sun reported. Monn, who worked for York County Children and Youth Services, had even gotten him a job there, although he quit with no notice in November.
When Monn didn’t show up at work on December 12 or call in, a co-worker requested a welfare check at his Mount Pleasant Township home, according to an affidavit. Co-workers had gotten an email the day before saying he wasn’t feeling well, and the co-workers knew he had heart issues.
Pennsylvania State Troopers were unable to reach anyone inside the home and made forced entry. The found Monn dead amid obvious signs of a struggled. He had blunt force trauma to th head, a possible broken arm, and bruises. A large amount of blood was found near his head and on walls and ceilings.
While troopers were on the scene, a friend of the victim arrived. He told the officers that he’d gotten a call from Bartram, who was Monn’s emergency contact at work, and that Bartram had asked him to check on his roommate. During the call, Bartram said he was in Virginia.
The troopers spoke with the mother of Bartram’s “on-again, off-again” girlfriend, who told them that Bartram had recently been diagnosed as bipolar. They left contact information for the girlfriend, who later called and told them she hadn’t heard from Bartram in several days and that they were having trouble in their relationship.
She told them she was on her way to her mother’s house in Altoona and said she was traveling “alone.”
But a license plate reader tagged the girlfriend’s vehicle on Interstate 95 near Stafford, Virginia, and officers found a hotel where she had booked a room nearby from December 11 to December 12. She was not there when they checked, however.
On December 12, police obtained a warrant for Bartram’s arrest in York County on charges of making false statements when he tried to buy a gun in November.
Bartram himself called troopers on December 13. During the call, he said that he hadn’t heard from Monn and that he and his girlfriend were in Stafford, Virginia. He said he last heard from Monn on the morning of December 10, when Monn complained about some of Bartram’s belongings cluttering a hallway.
Troopers then told Bartram that Monn was dead, and Bartram said he had been very sick a few days before. At that point, Bertram abruptly ended the conversation, saying he was being pulled over by police.
It was Ohio State Highway Patrol officers, who had identified the vehicle associated with the York County warrant. The traffic stop was conducted in Sandusky, 450 miles from Stafford, Virginia, and 220 miles from Mount Pleasant Township, Pennsylvania. His girlfriend was with him.
When police took him into custody, Bartram told the officers there was a bat in his trunk that “he’s going to want to grab.” According to an affidavit, the bat was covered in Monn’s blood.
Pennsylvania troopers traveled to Sandusky to interview Bartram, who told them that Monn blamed him and his girlfriend for getting COVID. He said he and his girlfriend got the infectious disease on December 3, and Monn tested positive two days later. He said he was also angry and “felt betrayed” because Monn had told him there was no key to a deadbolt at the house but that he later turned up with one and used it. Also, he said, Monn lied to him about not smoking.
He told the officers he didn’t remember much about what happened on the day of the argument and said he asked his girlfriend to drive him to Michigan because “he thought they might move there,” adding that he “was not trying to flee.”
He also said he used Monn’s credit card on December 12 to withdraw $800 and then tossed the card out the window on the interstate. He said he “feels like a monster” but that he told himself “f*** it.”
According to the affidavit, Bartram’s girlfriend told police that he referred to Monn as “his father” and that he had to kill him.
Bartram was extradited back to Pennsylvania and has now been charged with criminal homicide and robbery with serious bodily injury and is being held without bond.
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[Featured image: Kyle Bartram/York County Central Booking]
