Jan 12, 2022 4 min read

A Pittsburgh man accused of supplying a deadly batch of fentanyl-laced heroin that allegedly caused the fatal overdose of a Washington man nearly three years ago sold drugs in the community in what amounted to “lethal greed,” the prosecutor told a Washington County jury during opening statements at his trial Tuesday.

William Henry Greene, 30, is on trial this week on one felony count of drug delivery causing death and multiple drug charges in the April 17, 2019, death of David Chappel, who investigators said overdosed after ingesting heroin inside his Washington residence.

“It’s about drugs, addiction and, most importantly, lethal greed,” Assistant District Attorney Rachel Wheeler said during opening statements. “This person, all they care about is money, profit, greed.”

Greene is also awaiting trial on a separate drug delivery causing death charge in the unrelated overdose that killed Megan Peacock of Washington on Nov. 5, 2019.

Wheeler said the trial this week involving Chappel’s death would uncover the multitude of layers of the opioid epidemic that ranges from users to drug runners to high-level sources. She said Greene had a stockpile of stamp bags, some of which he supplied to a mid-level dealer that was ultimately sold to Chappel, 29, a day before his death. She added that police officers made four “controlled buys” from Greene in the months after Chappel’s death, which matched the same “red Spiderman” marking sold in the deadly batch.

“These bags were not just heroin. They were laced with fentanyl,” Wheeler said.

But Greene’s defense attorney, Renee Colbert, told the jury there will be “significant time and truth issues” with the prosecution’s case, including why it took nearly four months for investigators to interview the mid-level drug dealer and Chappel’s wife, Alyssa Rotunda, who also ingested the heroin and was with him when he died. Greene wasn’t arrested until Nov. 15, 2019, nearly seven months after Greene’s death.

Colbert called Chappel’s death “tragic,” but questioned whether it was the result of a fatal overdose or natural causes.

“You will definitely have a clear picture … that things don’t stack up (and) Mr. Greene is not guilty,” Colbert said.

Rotunda testified Monday that she met Chappel while they were both doing outpatient drug rehabilitation, and they helped each other stay clean over the years. The couple had two children and got married, but she said they “relapsed” and began using heroin a week before Greene’s death. She said her husband contacted an acquaintance, William “B.J.” Berdine, about finding heroin the day before his death because they were both “dope sick” while going through withdrawal after using heroin during the previous week.

Berdine delivered the stamp bags to their East Hallam Avenue residence, and Rotunda and Chappel each snorted about two stamp bags of heroin, she testified. They then went upstairs and watched a movie in bed before falling asleep, Rotunda testified.

During the night, however, Rotunda said Chappel was sleeping in an unusual position and “making weird noises” at times. When Rotunda awoke next morning, she found Chappel lying face-down in his pillow.

“He basically suffocated himself after the overdose,” Rotunda said.

Rotunda flushed the remaining stamp bags down the toilet, she testified, and then called 911 for help, although she did not attempt to resuscitate her husband because she could tell he was already dead. Police and medics arrived and performed CPR on Chappel, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rotunda spoke to Washington police officers at the scene, she said, but was not asked to give a written statement about the incident until four months later.

Berdine, who allegedly sold the heroin to Chappel but is not charged in the case since he is cooperating with investigators, is expected to testify today about his connection to Greene when the trial resumes.

Before the trial began, Wheeler raised concerns about an expert witness she plans to call Thursday who may have been exposed to COVID-19. Wheeler asked Judge Valarie Costanzo to allow the witness to testify through video conferencing if the person is infected. While Colbert objected to that option, Costanzo ruled that the current circumstances involving the coronavirus pandemic would allow for the witness to testify through video conferencing, if necessary.