JOHNSONBURG — Accused killer Nick Martin will be facing charges in Elk County Court after charges were bound over Wednesday at a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge George King in Johnsonburg.

Nick Martin, 22, of 416 First Ave., Johnsonburg, is accused of murdering his girlfriend Alyssa Forsyth, 18, of Ridgway, in the early morning hours on March 23 at 416 First Ave., Johnsonburg. 

Forsyth’s brutalized, nude body was recovered by Ridgway-based state police buried at Sandy Beach in Ridgway Township on March 26 in a black garbage bag, near several deer carcasses.

Security for the hearing was higher than any in recent memory. Each person had to be “wanded” and their purses checked by Elk County Sheriff Jeff Krieg and a deputy before being allowed to enter King’s office. The courtroom was packed with family members for both the victim and accused murderer. Some reporters were not allowed in the courtroom because the room was over capacity.

Martin is charged with criminal homicide, a first-degree felony; two counts of aggravated assault, one first and one second-degree felonies; and one count of abuse of a corpse, a second-degree misdemeanor.

District Attorney Brad Kraus called four witnesses, while the specially appointed defense attorney George “Jim” Daghir declined to mount a defense at this time. 

Jessie Pino of Water Street, Johnsonburg, was the first witness called. He said Martin was his friend, and the two were drinking on March 22 and into the early morning hours of March 23. On March 23, Pino testified, Martin dropped by his apartment unannounced, and confessed that he had murdered Forsyth.

“I walked in my room and he was looking a little uneasy and worried,” Pino said. “He told me after he dropped me off, Alyssa texted him to pick her up in St. Marys.”

Martin said he and Forsyth went to his residence, and he started to choke her. The two fell on the floor, and then she got up and tried to run.

“He grabbed her and stabbed her with a screwdriver, then a kitchen knife. She begged for her life and he stabbed her,” Pino testified. He said Martin told him he had left her body in the Sandy Beach area near some deer carcasses.

Martin wanted to spend the night at Pino’s, saying he didn’t want to stay at his own house because “the carpet was really bloody.” Pino told him to rip it up because he really didn’t want Martin staying with him, he testified. He explained he had found a cell phone in his living room after Martin left, and realized it belonged to Forsyth. He sent a Facebook message to Martin, who came back to retrieve the phone.

Pino said he had messaged with Forsyth on Facebook, and that she said Martin had threatened to kill her. Pino showed those messages, along with others, to Martin.

Pino testified that he spoke to a few people about Martin’s confession, and then called police to tell them.

Officer David Cuneo of Johnsonburg Borough Police was also called to testify. He described his conversation with Pino, and described finding numerous garbage bags in front of Martin’s residence in Johnsonburg on March 25.

The first bag contained household garbage, but the second that he opened smelled of blood and chemicals. In that bag, there was a carpet, comforter and a bed sheet. Another bag contained underwear and pants, a pair of brown work boots, a wallet with a photo of Alyssa Forsyth and another male. Also found was a cloth purse with a jacket stuffed in it. The other bags held just regular household rubbish. 

Cuneo said he took the bags back to the station and documented the evidence found.

Martin was located at 1:35 a.m. March 26 and taken to the police station, Cuneo said. At 2:50 a.m., Ridgway-based state police notified Cuneo they had found Forsyth’s body at Sandy Beach. Cuneo accompanied the body to the coroner at the Erie Courthouse and stayed for her autopsy. The cause of death was determined as multiple stab wounds.

Ridgway-based state trooper Patrick McMackin arrived at Sandy Beach after the body was found. When he arrived at Sandy Beach, he saw tire tracks and footprints leading away with what looked like drag marks.

“At the end, there was located garbage bags and inside was the body of a female. The scene was not disturbed at that point,” McMackin said.

He went to Martin’s apartment building and, “When I went through the doorway, a portion of the carpet appeared to have been cut out.” 

He said he had seen the photos taken by Cuneo from the garbage and felt that the two pieces of carpet would match.

Kraus rested his case after McMackin’s testimony.

King bound the charges over to the Elk County Court of Common Pleas and set the formal arraignment for 3 p.m. May 31 in the main courtroom of the Elk County Courthouse. Martin remains incarcerated without bail.