Victim missing since 2004

            The Bucks County District Attorney announced that authorities have solved the 16-year-old mystery of a missing Quakertown man. On Tuesday, Matt Weintraub announced that his office has filed charges against the alleged murderer of Adam Brundage.

            Daman Andrew Smoot, 36, was arraigned Tuesday morning on one count of criminal homicide for the killing of Brundage in Hilltown Township in 2004. Brundage and Smoot had been roommates at Brundage's home on Glen Meadow Court in Quakertown for a few weeks before his murder, according to information posted on the Bucks County district attorney's Crimewatch page.

            Earlier this month, Smoot told investigators he killed the 26-year-old Brundage on the evening of Oct. 4, 2004, at the quarry on Skunk Hollow Road in Hilltown Township where Smoot worked, according to the police criminal complaint field in the New Britain court of District Judge Regina Armitage.

            During a news conference Tuesday morning, Weintraub announced that Brundage's murder is the third cold case homicide solved by local police and the Bucks County District Attorney's Office since 2015.

            "If you murder somebody in Bucks County, don't sleep. Because we will get you," District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub said at a press conference Tuesday. "To our police in Bucks County, I ask that if you have a cold case murder, please bring it to us. To the victims of cold cases yet unsolved, don't give up hope."

            Brundage was described by family and friends as a recluse, an avid reader and coin collector and very attached to his two cats.  He was last seen in October of 2004. Quakertown police were dispatched to Brundage's home in the unit block of Glen Meadow Court at the request of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his two small children to check on his well-being. The woman said she had not heard from him for more than a month, and that was unusual for him, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

            At the residence, police spoke with Smoot, who told the officers he was living there with Brundage. Smoot said the other man was currently out of state. Authorities learned that neighbors had not seen Brundage recently. They also discovered that Smoot was living in the home and was driving Brundage's 1997 maroon Mercury Cougar, according to the legal document.

            Subsequent interviews of Smoot revealed that he provided numerous conflicting explanations regarding Brundage's absence. On Nov. 12, Smoot told police Brundage has been in Iowa, but was now in West Virginia.

            The same day, he spoke to Brundage's stepmother three times and told her three separate stories. Initially, Smoot said he went to Iowa because of a warrant issued for his arrest. The second time Smoot said Brundage went to Iowa because he had cancer. The third time Smoot said Brundage went to West Virginia for drug rehab.

            Also on the same day, Smoot told a Quakertown officer that Brundage had been in Iowa for three weeks, and that new he was in West Virginia. According to Smoot, Brundage left the area because he owed child support and other bills, court records state.

            Brundage last worked at Applegate Farms on Oct. 1, 2004. Several attempts to reach him by the business were unsuccessful. The manager described Brundage as a reliable employee who rarely missed work, according the document.

            After reopening the case in April of 2019, the Bucks County DA confronted Smoot and his attorney with evidence of Brundage's death on Jan. 9. Smoot agreed to plead guilty to third degree murder in the killing of Brundage, which carries of sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison, and help law authorities find the victim's remains, according to a legal document.

            Smoot confessed that on the evening of Oct. 4, 2004, he and Brundage went to the Haines and Kibblehouse Quarry in Hilltown Township for the purpose of getting sand to help deal with a grating issue at Brundage's house on Meadow Glen Court in Quakertown.

            The two got into a verbal argument. Smoot went to his truck, retrieved a wooden baseball bat and struck Brundage in the back of his head. Smoot described the force of his actions as "caving in" Brundage's head. The victim fell to the ground unconscious. Smoot covered Brundage's nose and mouth until he was certain the man was dead, and buried him in a sand berm within the quarry near the asphalt plant.

            Authorities recovered Brundage's remains from the location identified by Smoot, according to law enforcement officials.

            Smoot was arraigned Tuesday morning by Armitage, who set bail in the case as $1 million monetary. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, according to information posted on a state judicial website.

            However, the defendant is currently in prison following a guilty plea in Montgomery County to felony aggravated assault and kidnapping and misdemeanor terroristic threats following a June 23, 2011 incident in Salford Township.