'Yoga' murder shocks small town

NEW BERLIN - The man police say killed a yoga instructor at his Union County studio this weekend may have been planning the assault as early as May 9, according to state police at Milton.

The revelation in an affidavit of probable cause filed Wednesday is just one of a number of shocking and odd statements made in e-mail written by Joel R. Snider, 33, of St. Louis, Mo., who has been charged with criminal homicide in the death of Sudharman, 70, owner of Integral Yoga Center, 428 Market St., a Cornell University graduate and a former Navy SEAL.

Sudharman, who's given name was Joe Fenton, was found dead in his studio Monday by a fellow instructor, Robere Kujac, of Northumberland, before a 5:30 p.m. class at the studio, where Sudharman lived. Sudharman's body was wrapped in two sheets, a comforter and duct tape.

"I saw him and touched him, but he was stiff," Kujac said Monday. "I found him wrapped in the blanket, and I think he fell out of bed, but I just don't know."

An autopsy performed Wednesday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, found instead that Sudharman had died as the result of multiple gun shot wounds from a small-caliber weapon.

Disturbing e-mails

During the course of the investigation, state police were contacted by Swami Karunananda, a staff member at Yogaville, Buckingham County, Va., who has ties to Sudharman, as well as Snider, who was a student at Yogaville.

When Karunananda heard of Sudharman's death, she reached out to police, saying she'd received a series of disturbing e-mails from Snider, whom she's known for 10 years.

Snider had at one point been recruited by Sudharman to teach at his school.

The first e-mail, sent on May 9, stated that Snider would be able to carry out an "assassination" of Sudharman, and another man, Andrew Cohen.

"I am a very good shot with a rifle and would prefer to do it from a longer range, but I would need to have a handgun as well for any opposition or if the scenario with the rifle would not work after seeing the area in person," Snider wrote to Karunananda. "I would definitely want to avoid prison and the U.S. law enforcement."

In a May 10 e-mail, Snider wrote, "I am thinking that for both Andrew and Sudharman it would be best if they just disappeared. No bullet holes, no blood, no signs of forced entry or struggle. Both appear to be mysterious, eccentric spiritual guys, so it might be easily believable that they would just take off for a while, or maybe they had spontaneous enlightenment or something and they reached satori or went home to God or something. This way there is less chance for an investigation, less chance that it could be traced back to me. This will take a little more planning and could be risky to get close, but with God as my guide I am sure I will be just fine."

'Roll body up in tarp'

Snider noted that Sudharman was still living and operating Integral Yoga Center in New Berlin. The center, he wrote to Karunananda, is in the middle of the small town, which is dark at night, with few street lights. The area the center is in, Snider said, is a mostly commercial area, so in the early morning or evening, there would be few people around.

"Place tarp on floor, roll body up in tarp carry out to car. Tidy up yoga center. Drive to hotel room," Snider wrote to Karunananda.

On Sunday, Karunananda received another e-mail from Snider: "Is this the fruition of when I asked for your help regarding Sudharman and Andrew way back when? That took a long time to get me ready, huh? In PA now. If the opportunity presents itself there will be a great celebration of independence. May God's might be swift and strong. May evil be utterly destroyed wherever it is lurking. May all be set free from the clutches of evil, for good, for all time."

Karunananda told police she was afraid that Snider was responsible for Sudharman's death, and that Cohen may be in danger.

Caught via cell trace

Police triangulated Snider's cell phone location on state Route 147 between Northumberland and Milton at 8:51 a.m. Monday. On Tuesday, police discovered Snider was planning on staying at a hotel in Prince George's County, Maryland. Troopers headed to that location to interview Snider, who fled as soon as he heard authorities were on their way.

Snider was taken into custody early Wednesday morning in Glenn Marsh, Md., with the help of Baltimore County Police.

Police are saying the murder happened between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 4:45 p.m. Monday.

'He is ... with us'

At 9:15 p.m. Monday, a silence swept through onlookers when several yoga instructors lined up, arm-in-arm, weeping as Sudharman's body was taken out of the center.

"Don't worry, he is around us," said an unidentified man. "He is right out there with us."

Debbie Tillett, of Northumberland, said she'd spoken to Sudharman less than 48 hours earlier.

"He called and left me a message about doing a business appearance in Lewisburg on Tuesday," she said. "And then Robere called me and said something had happened when I was on my way to the center to begin to clean."

Tillett is a regular at the center; she was shocked when she heard of Sudharman's death.

"He was such a peaceful man," she said.

Cornell grad, Navy SEAL

Adam Christianson, an instructor, used the same description.

"I can't believe this," he said as he wept outside the yoga center.

Neighbors said Sudharman was a Lewisburg Area High School graduate and had attended Cornell University before returning to New Berlin about a decade ago.

"He was a Navy SEAL," said a resident, who declined to be identified. "I never really saw him that much, but he seemed all right."

"I can't believe this in our small town," a neighbor said. "I would have never imagined such a thing."

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