BOONE COUNTY, KY (FOX19) -
The Boone
County Sheriff's Office released a preliminary identification of the man
who was killed and dismembered in Verona, Kentucky.
Officers say the victim is Daniel Delfin, 19,
of Walton.
Officials identified Delfin using
the description of his clothing, a tattoo, approximate size & weight, and
the fact the perpetrators named him.
Three men, Jefferey Allen, 21,
Anthony Baumgartner, 23, and Stephen Harkness, 22, were arrested Tuesday
for Murder, Kidnapping, Abuse of a corpse, and Tampering with physical
evidence in Delfin's death.
Officials believe the trio
targeted Delfin because he was alleged to be a heroin dealer.
Boone County Sheriff's Office
spokesperson Tom Scheben says the men picked up Delfin in Walton and then drove
him to Verona. He say Delfin was beaten to death and strangled before being
dismembered. Detectives found a machete and a saw blade near the alleged crime
scene which are currently undergoing testing.
Delfin was arrested back in May
in connection with a heroin
trafficking ring out of Northern Kentucky.
Crews
searched the Rumpke landfill in Butler, Ky. as well as a barn on Allen's
property in Verona for the man's remains on Tuesday.
Scheben tells FOX19 no further
searching is planned and detectives will not be returning to the Rumpke site
outside of Butler, Kentucky.
The three suspects are expected
in Boone County court Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
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