Authorities arrested a man in the death of a Virginia rock climber who was killed with a claw hammer in Maryland, WVVA reported.
David DiPaolo, 31, has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Geoffrey Farrar, 68, at the Carderock Recreation Area.
According to police, witnesses saw both men arguing before Farrar died. On Dec. 28, police found Farrar bleeding from the head with injuries consistent with a blow to the head, opposed to a fall.
On Jan. 8, officials arrested DiPaolo in Lake George, New York. Court documents state that DiPaolo told police they were arguing and he hit Farrar after Farrar choked him. A report by the Washington Post claims Farrar had mentored DiPaolo for two decades.
The Post-Star reported that DiPaolo was detained in New York by Kyle Hunter, an off-duty state trooper, who recognized his vehicle that was the subect of an interstate hunt.
DiPaolo agreed to return to Maryland to stand trial.
William Kelley, an instructer and guide at Earth Treks, a climbing center based in Howard County, said Farrar was climbing rocks since "probably longer than I was alive."
Kelley befriended both Farrar and DiPaolo after running into them several times while taking students up to Carderock. He said that "every time you saw [Farrar] he was in a conversation with someone, giving them information about climbs. He was the guy at Carderock. He knew all the climbs, and he knew how they were supposed to be done."
Friends and family recalled Farrar's love of climbing on a memorial page on the Randolph Funeral Home website.
"He was such a great climber, a friend and a good man. Carderock will never be the same without Jeff Farrar, Carderock Jeff! I will see you on the other side, my friend when my time comes; and we will climb together again. We will all miss you!" one user wrote.
His daughter, Sharon Farrar-Osmon, also uploaded a touching post.
"RIP Dad. I enjoyed rock climbing with you when I was a kid. You died doing something that you loved to do. I will see you on the other side," she wrote.
