Handcuffed and shackled, Michael D. Marchalk kept his eyes downcast as he sat in a Schuylkill County courtroom, listening to his younger brother Matthew describe finding the bloody body of their father, Barnesville attorney Gary D. Marchalk, whom Michael has admitted to killing on Father's Day.

Following 50 minutes of testimony from prosecutors on Thursday, District Judge Christina E. Hale of Frackville found sufficient evidence to send murder and related charges against Michael Marchalk, 37, on to court."How was it hearing from your brother?" a reporter asked Michael Marchalk as he was escorted from the courtroom by Schuylkill County Sheriff Joseph G. Groody and Deputy Gerard Daley."It was difficult to hear," Marchalk said.Asked if he had intended to kill his father, Marchalk replied, "No, I didn't."Marchalk is charged with criminal homicide, murder of the first degree, murder of the second degree, murder of the third degree, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, robbery, theft, theft of a motor vehicle, access device fraud and recklessly endangering another person.The preliminary hearing was to be held in the Schuylkill County courthouse, Pottsville, for security reasons. Gary Marchalk was a well-known criminal defense lawyer who practiced mainly in Schuylkill County.TestimonySenior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Peter Phillips is prosecuting the case. Schuylkill County District Attorney Christine A. Holman turned the matter over to the state because she was friends with the Marchalks, who lived in her neighborhood.Michael Marchalk is represented by public defender Kent D. Watkins.Watkins did not call witnesses, nor did his client testify.Phillips first called Matthew D. Marchalk, 33, to testify.Matthew said Michael, who was addicted to heroin, had lived with him for a few months, but that he had asked him to leave around June 14.Michael then moved in with Gary Marchalk. The two "did not get along particularly well," Matthew Marchalk said.He said his brother Michael had threatened to "go after him" and "thought about killing him" if Michael felt "put into a corner" by their father.Matthew said his father sent him an email message on Friday, June 16, saying Michael would be staying with him over the weekend, and would be going to a drug rehabilitation program on Monday morning.After a failed attempt to buy heroin in Hazleton on Saturday night, June 17, to avoid withdrawal sickness, Michael Marchalk the next day asked his father for money to buy the drug locally, state Trooper Eric Schaeffer testified Michael Marchalk told him on the way back from Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Michael had been caught on June 30 after having fled his father's house.Gary Marchalk refused to give his son money, saying "'basically, you're dead to me,' and told him to get out," Schaeffer said.Michael told the trooper he then threw a clothes iron at the wall. His father was sitting on his bed, the baseball bat nearby.Michael told the trooper his father hit him twice on the arm with the bat. Michael wrested it away, and hit Gary Marchalk six times.He then took his father's wallet and fled in his car, traveling to Philadelphia, where he caught a bus to Atlantic City.Michael Marchalk told Schaeffer he "would trade places with his father if he could," the trooper testified.He was sorry, and said there was no excuse for what he did. He had destroyed his own life and his father's, Shaeffer said.Matthew Marchalk, who worked for his father, went to the house at 21 Pear Lane the morning of June 19 after he became concerned after Gary Marchalk failed to answer texts on Father's Day and didn't show up at a hearing on the morning of June 19."I assumed the worst," Matthew Marchalk said. "I had a pretty bad feeling."Accompanied by a neighbor, he went into the house, then upstairs."I turned the corner, and just got a glimpse. There was blood all over the bed. (Gary Marchalk) was on the floor," Matthew Marchalk said.Phillips also called Trooper Joseph W. Hall of the Frackville barracks to testify. He described arriving at the house and how he found blood spatter on Gary Marchalk's bedroom ceiling and walls, a pool of it on the bed, and under Marchalk's head.He also described tracking Michael Marchalk's journey from Barnesville to Philadelphia via his use of the father's bank cards.Deputy Schuylkill County coroner David Truskowsky testified about pronouncing Marchalk dead at 12:04 p.m. June 19 of blunt force trauma.BackgroundAt the time of his death, Gary Marchalk was estranged from his wife of 10 years, Schuylkill County Treasurer Linda L. Marchalk.She had moved out of their home several weeks before the murder.Matthew and Michael were born to Gary and his first wife, the late Mary Ann Marchalk.Michael Marchalk has a long criminal history, including bank robbery.On May 8, 2007, Marchalk gave a teller at the Wachovia Bank on Clamtown Road in the South Tamaqua area of the township a note demanding money.He got away with a money bag, but was caught shortly afterward by township police officer Jason Lorah.Marchalk pleaded guilty in November 2007 before Schuylkill County Judge Charles M. Miller to robbery and related charges. Miller sentenced him to two to four years in state prison.