Amanda Carman, Suspect in Mozart Murder, Waives Preliminary Hearing in Ohio County Magistrate Court
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WHEELING -- The second person charged in the death of Mozart resident Anorah Schostag waived her preliminary hearing Monday.
Amanda Carman, 35 of Middle Grave Creek Road, Glen Easton, appeared remotely at the Ohio County Magistrate Court to waive her preliminary hearing before magistrate Charlie Murphy. Her attorney, Paul Harris, was present in the courtroom, along with several members of Carman's family, according to court personnel. Monday's proceedings were not open to the public.
Carman remains lodged without bond at the Northern Regional Jail. She was arrested on Dec. 21 at her home and was charged with murder. Her husband, William Carman, was arrested Sept. 17 and was also charged with murder in the case.
According to court records, Amanda Carman was the first to make contact with Wheeling police on Sept. 17, where she told police someone had attacked Schostag, who she said was her friend. While police investigated the house and found the slain body of Schostag, William Carman was caught walking through the front yard, where he was apprehended after a brief chase on foot. He remains incarcerated as well.
During the course of the investigation, Amanda Carman allegedly gave several statements. Immediately after the discovery of Schostag, she told police she did not see anyone come into the residence before the attack, and did not identify an attacker, who she said was masked.
Later that week, Amanda Carman was interviewed again, this time saying that William Carman came into the residence, pointed a gun at her head, and attempted to force her to help rob Schostag. She told police that she resisted, instead watching her and Schostag's children while her husband was robbing her supposed friend.
Carman gave police several conflicting accounts of the day of the murder, where she allegedly said she drove the children to safety, before stopping to buy them drinks, and turning around instead of seeking help. She also allegedly bought her husband a magazine for his pistol, which she said was in exchange for her cell phone, but which security footage from a Bridgeport store disputes, as she is allegedly seen talking on her phone while making the purchase.
Schostag's brother, who said he knows Carman, said she was "acting strange" during the day of the murder. The two women had apparently packed several bags worth of belongings from the residence, but did not pack anything for Schostag's son, which he said would be one of the first things she did if she were preparing to leave.
During the investigation, police say the Carmans had made phone calls to each other, with conversations allegedly including ways for the two to communicate without police catching onto them, and Amanda Carman telling her husband that an unknown masked man had attacked, to which William Carman apparently reacted with delight.
According to police records, William Carman allegedly told his wife to tell the police anything she wants, and that she could not be made to testify. She agreed, saying that if their divorce had been finalized, that would not be the case.
At the time of the murder, the Carmans were apparently in the process of divorcing, but had not been finalized by late December.