A Ulysses man is facing criminal charges after allegedly hiding evidence at the scene of his girlfriend’s death.
Patrick W. Tomb, 24, is charged with one count of tampering with/fabricating physical evidence, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Law enforcement officials previously reported that the woman who died was Kathleen Marie Stirnaman, 29, of Galeton.
While Potter County District Attorney Andy Watson confirmed Stirnaman’s death was being investigated as a case of drug delivery resulting in death, there has been no indication from officials that Tomb had any part of the alleged delivery.
As of press time, no one has been arrested on delivery-related charges in the case.
According to the criminal complaint against Tomb, around 8:30 a.m. June 25, he woke up to find his girlfriend was dead in bed next to him.
Believing that she had overdosed because she ingested methamphetamine and marijuana the night before, he removed from his room a plastic baggie that had a “triangle hazardous” symbol on it, the complaint stated. The baggie allegedly had contained meth.
At 8:34 a.m., Tomb called 911 notifying them of the medical issue. At the scene, ambulance/fire personnel discovered there was nothing they could do and notified the coroner.
Investigating officers determined that Tomb had tried to hide the baggie — which had been given to his girlfriend the night before — from investigators, according to court records.
Tomb waived a preliminary hearing for the case on Tuesday before District Judge Christopher Kalacinski.
While bail is set for $20,000 unsecured in the new case against Tomb, court records indicate that he was jailed on June 25 in Tioga County Jail for a violation of a sentence that he is serving in Tioga County. Court records show that he pleaded guilty July 10, 2019, to charges in two cases: theft by unlawful taking in one case and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds in the second.
On July 24, Tomb is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in another unresolved criminal case in Potter County. In this case, he is charged with two counts of forgery and one count of theft by deception.
