In 1997, state troopers investigating the shooting death of a hunter in the woods of Fayette County seized animal blood, meat, tissue and "gut piles" at the scene as evidence.

Four months later, search warrant in hand, they went to the Uniontown home of a suspect and confiscated deer steak and chops from his freezer.

Recently, a DNA analysis confirmed a match between the deer meat at the scene and in Lawrence Cseripko's freezer.

With that -- and a witness statement placing Cseripko at the homicide site and ascribing to him a motive -- state police had enough to make an arrest Thursday in the death of Paul Horvat Jr.

It was unclear what other evidence, if any, investigators have against Cseripko. Trooper Pierre Wilson, the lead investigator, would not say if state police ever found the murder weapon or had a witness to the actual shooting.

State police accused Cseripko of shooting Horvat three times either Dec. 16 or 17, 1997, in a heavily wooded area in Menallen near Baer Road.

Horvat, 54, of Big Lake, Alaska, was visiting his parents and had gone hunting by himself. When he didn't return by 10 p.m., the family called police. Troopers looking for the missing man found his body in a creek.

At the scene, state police took the deer remains.

"I just believe it was progressive thinking at the time," Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said yesterday.

A key break in the case came in January 1998, when Wilson interviewed Dewey Stewart, 68, of Baer Road in Smock. According to a police affidavit, Stewart told Wilson he was taking his daily constitutional through the hollow on the morning of Dec. 16, 1997, and ran into Horvat leaving a tree stand.

Then he ran into Cseripko wearing blaze orange and carrying a rifle. Stewart told Cseripko that Horvat was hunting nearby. He told police about a fight the victim and the suspect had a year earlier about an "illegal deer," the affidavit said.

Stewart told police that Cseripko said he would kill Horvat if he ran into him in the woods, according to the affidavit.

Police said Stewart then went home and heard two gunshots from Cseripko's direction. A short time later, Cseripko drove away.

Troopers interviewed Cseripko twice in January 1998. Police said he failed to mention that he was in the woods around the time of Horvat's death, denied that he spoke with Stewart and said he did not own the type of rifle Stewart told police he was carrying.

Cseripko faces a preliminary hearing Friday.