Authorities ID victim in Greenfield slaying

GREENFIELD — The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office had identified Christopher Hairston, 35, last known to reside in Pittsfield, as the victim found dismembered in a barrel in a Chapman Street apartment on Monday evening.

Suspect Taaniel Herberger-Brown, 42, was arrested at Albany International Airport on Tuesday on a murder charge after reports of a foul odor brought Greenfield Police to his former apartment at 92 Chapman St.

Investigators discovered Hairston’s hand and part of his torso inside of a barrel in the apartment, according to a report written by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Blakeley Pottinger. Police also located a black hatchet to the left of the barrel.

After pinging Herberger-Brown’s cellphone, Greenfield Police and State Police detectives contacted the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, where law enforcement arrested Herberger-Brown on a charge a murder.

While being investigated by Greenfield and State Police, Herberger-Brown allegedly told investigators that a man, who he believed to be on drugs, had broken into his apartment and engaged in a physical altercation with him. Toward the end of the altercation, Herberger-Brown told police that the victim’s “heart stopped.”

It is unclear when Herberger-Brown will be returned to Massachusetts for arraignment on the murder charge. The official cause of death will be determined by The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.