Hearing Set In Pottstown For Alleged Murderer

Edwin Carrero, arrested and arraigned for the murder of Alicia Schmidt, 31, is expected to attend a preliminary hearing before Judge Kropp in Pottstown this month, according to a news release from Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Pottstown Police Chief Mark D. Flanders. 

Pottstown Police on February 2 went to Schmidt’s home at 424 Cherry Street in Pottstown where they found her dead at the bottom of the basement stairs of the house.  

At that time, Schmidt's children, ages 7 and 12, were found unharmed in second floor bedrooms.

On February 2, police interviewed Carrero's ex-wife, Nicole Carrero, 32, who said Edwin Carrero was in a relationship and living with Schmidt at 424 Cherry Street. 

Nicole Carrero said she received a phone call from Edwin Carrero at 6:35 a.m. February 2. At that time, Edwin Carrero told her he may have killed Schmidt.  

"Edwin Carrero told Nicole that he choked Alicia and pushed her down the steps of the basement," the release states.

Schmidt was autopsied by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office on February 2. The cause of death was "broad ligature strangulation; the manner of death was homicide," the release states.

"Beginning on February 1 and continuing to February 3, 2012, a bank debit card that was stolen from the victim was used 28 times and $3,384.05 was removed from the account during those transactions," the release states. "The transactions show the defendant’s flight from Pottstown to Atlantic City to Ruther Glen, Virginia, where the card was eventually declined."

On February 7, 2012 at approximately 2:10 AM, an Officer from the Seminole Tribal Police in Broward County encountered Carrero in the parking garage for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Carrero was inside the car he had stolen from Alicia Schmidt.

Carrero on February 7 was apprehended in Broward County, Florida and extradited to Montgomery County to face the murder charges.

"On March 3, (2012), the defendant was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Edward C. Kropp, Sr. and held without bail," the release states.

Carrero's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 22 at 2093 East High Street in Pottstown.

Montgomery County assistant district attorneys Wallis Brooks and Heather Levandoski will prosecute the case.