(Updated at 3:29 p.m.) NASSAU, Bahamas – Two U.S. men charged in the death of a Berks County, resident on the island of Bimini were expected to leave the Bahamas on Wednesday after posting bail, their attorney said, portraying the incident as a tragic accident.
Tyler Valles and Robert Schwartz, both members of a sport fishing crew on a boat that had stopped in Bimini, were to be released on $35,000 bail each after agreeing to return to the country for a hearing in May, attorney Wayne Munroe said. The men were charged a day earlier with manslaughter but did not enter a plea.
Munroe, a prominent criminal defense attorney in the Bahamas, described the men as shocked by their situation and still trying to piece together the confusing series of events that led to the death of Carl Yerger, a 45-year-old businessman from Ruscombmanor Township, Berks County.
‘Everyone, of course, is replaying the matter in their heads,’ Munroe said in an interview.
The men were arrested following the discovery Friday of the body of Yerger at a marina and resort on Bimini, a Bahamian island about 50 miles east of Florida that is a sport fishing and diving destination. Asst. Commissioner Emrick Seymour of the Royal Bahamas Police Force had said the men fought when Yerger tried to board their vessel.
Yerger owned a milling and consulting business near Fleetwood and was reportedly in Bimini on a business trip. He had two young sons and led the Oley Valley Youth League, a sports association in his community.
Munroe said that prosecutors believe Yerger was intoxicated when he tried to get onto the boat late at night and was removed by the captain and Valles, a 19-year-old from Key Largo, Fla.
After several attempts by Yerger to get on board, Valles went to get help from the resort’s security. As he left, he picked up a filleting knife off the dock to keep it away from Yerger, Munroe said, citing the prosecution’s account.
The attorney said that Yerger ‘attacked’ Valles and that Schwartz, a 62-year-old from Gaylordsville, Conn., jumped in to help. All three struggled on the ground, at which point Yerger was accidentally stabbed.
At the time, apparently no one had noticed that Yerger had been stabbed and they all thought the incident was over. Now injured, Yerger got up and walked back to the resort and the other two men went back to the boat, the lawyer said.
The court set a hearing date for May 19 for the formal presentation of the indictment. Munroe said a trial would likely be more than a year away.
EARLIER VERSION OF THIS STORYNASSAU, Bahamas – Two U.S. men charged in the death of another American citizen on the island of Bimini are being released on bail.
A lawyer for the men portrays the incident as an accident and says his clients will return to the Bahamas for trial. Attorney Wayne Munroe says they may leave the country Wednesday.
Tyler Valles and Robert Schwartz are charged with manslaughter in the death of Carl Yerger, a 45-year-old father of two from Ruscombmanor Township, in Berks County, Pa.
Valles, a 19-year-old from Key Largo, Fla., and Schwartz, a 62-year-old from Gaylordsville, Conn., were working on a sport fishing boat when the incident occurred.
Police say the men struggled when an allegedly drunk Yerger tried to board their boat. Witnesses say Valles went to move a knife and accidentally stabbed Yerger.
Yerger worked for CMC Milling Co. in Fleetwood. He was the president of the Oley Valley Youth League.
He leaves behind a wife and two sons.
‘This is a huge loss for this community and we will rally around the family,’ said Susan Lackey, a friend and neighbor of the Yergers. ‘We’re absolutely shocked.’
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
