Feb 4, 2022 4 min read

The DNA of the woman accused of killing a Waynesburg man was identified on a cigarette butt next to the scorched minivan where Thomas Ringer’s body was found inside hours after he was “burned alive” in rural Washington County.

Star Dawn Lowery-Rutan is accused of killing Ringer on May 16 and torching the vehicle found in state game lands in East Finley Township two days after hearing Ringer may have abused her niece, according to testimony during her preliminary hearing Thursday in Washington County Central Court.

Angela Barr testified that she heard Lowery-Rutan’s niece Cindy Slone claim she was being physically abused by Ringer, who was Slone’s boyfriend, and forced to ingest drugs. While Barr was unsure if that was true, she called Lowery-Rutan on May 14 to let her know of the allegations. Lowery-Rutan became enraged in the phone call, and allegedly said she would have a “hot shot with his name on it,” Barr testified, meaning a lethal injection of drugs for Ringer.

Ringer’s half-brother, Charles Zimmerman, testified he did not believe the allegations by Slone, and he tried to calm Lowery-Rutan during a phone call that same day. But he testified Lowery-Rutan insinuated she planned to kill Ringer before hanging up.

“I will take his last (expletive) breath,” Lowery-Rutan allegedly said, according to Zimmerman.

Two days later, the badly-burned skeletal remains of Ringer, 40, were found in the backseat of a minivan parked near 23 Maple Lane in East Finley Township. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco testified that an autopsy revealed Ringer was likely alive when the vehicle was set ablaze, and that he died of thermal injuries and smoke inhalation.

“We had enough evidence that (Ringer) was alive when the fire was set,” Warco said about smoke found in the victim’s blood and trachea.

State police Trooper Melinda Churney testified that they connected Lowery-Rutan to Ringer’s death using the DNA from a discarded cigarette butt found just a few feet away from the minivan.

Investigators also found surveillance video of Ringer driving the same minivan in the Waynesburg area in the early hours of May 16. The vehicle was later seen on surveillance videos at separate Greene County convenience stores in Nineveh and Graysville being followed by a pickup truck registered to Lowery-Rutan’s husband, Harry Rutan. Churney testified that Star Lowery-Rutan and her boyfriend, John “Cubby” Hewitt Jr., also were known to drive that pickup truck at times.

Churney testified she could not decipher who was driving both vehicles in the surveillance videos, or how many people were inside. No one else has been charged in the case as of Thursday, according to online court records.

Lowery-Rutan, 43, of 129 Bayard Ave., Rices Landing, was arrested Dec. 16 following a police raid on her house. Two other people were also taken into custody that day, but they were not identified. Lowery-Rutan was charged with homicide, arson, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

Defense attorney Chris Blackwell argued during Thursday’s preliminary hearing that there was no testimony or evidence presented showing Lowery-Rutan killed Ringer.

“We have no idea who did this,” Blackwell said before pointing to the cigarette butt as the only evidence she was near the vehicle at some point. “All it does is put her at the scene. We have no idea what happened in that field.”

District Attorney Jason Walsh countered that Lowery-Rutan made multiple threats against Ringer days before his body was found in the burned vehicle.

“He’s dead. Burned alive,” Walsh said.

District Judge John Bruner agreed and ordered Lowery-Rutan to stand trial on all charges. The facts of the case were sealed until minutes before Lowery-Rutan’s preliminary hearing, and Walsh declined to say whether the investigation remains open or if other people could face charges. Lowery-Rutan is being held without bond at the Washington County jail.