January 21, 2020
Source/Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Adam Brundage, 26, was killed in Quakertown, Pennsylvania on Oct. 4, 2004. Bucks County prosecutors say Damon Smoot, 36, will plead guilty to third-degree murder in the 15-year-old cold case.
Fifteen years after a Bucks County man was beaten to death with a baseball bat, prosecutors have charged a man who allegedly admitted to killing his friend, authorities announced Tuesday.
Damon Smoot, 36. 
Source/Bucks County District Attorney's Office
Damon Smoot, 36, is expected to plead guilty to third-degree murder in the death of Adam Brundage, who was 26 years old when he died in 2004, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said at a press conference.
On Oct. 4, 2004, Smoot struck Brundage in the back of the head with a bat following an argument in Quakertown, prosecutors said. Smoot then allegedly suffocated Brundage to ensure that he was dead before burying him at H&K Quarries in the Chalfont section of Hilltown, where Smoot was an employee.
Brundage, who was a father of two, was considered missing in the aftermath the incident. His remains only recently were discovered, Weintraub said. Smoot directed investigators to the location of the burial site, which was dug up following a search of the quarry with the help of a cadaver dog.
"Adam was buried at the quarry. He didn't have a funeral. No grave marker. No epitaph," Weintraub said. "Just a tomb in a rock for 15 years. But I am very pleased to say that he will now be returned to his family for proper burial."
Prosecutors said Smoot was jealous of Brundage after he came into a small inheritance. The two were roommates. Smoot previously was a suspect in the case, but he was never charged.
Smoot is expected to serve between 20 and 40 years in prison and will be eligible for parole when he is 62 years old. He was arraigned, waived his preliminary hearing and had his bail set at $1 million.
A defense attorney for Smoot said that his client was serving another sentence for domestic assault during the investigation's final stages. When he learned there was substantial evidence against him in the Brundage case, he sought to "unburden his soul," the attorney said.
This is the third cold case solved by Bucks County investigators in recent years.
"I would love to be known as the District Attorney's Office that solves cold case murders," Weintraub said. "That would be an incredible legacy."
