SUNDERLAND — Police located a cabin in the woods around Clark Mountain Road Thursday afternoon that was occupied by Taaniel Herberger-Brown, the suspect accused of murdering a man at 92 Chapman St. in Greenfield and storing his body in a barrel for an extended period of time.

Greenfield Police Chief Todd Dodge said Herberger-Brown signed his name on the cabin’s interior wall and police found what they believed to be the owner’s manual to his vehicle.

“Thankfully the cabin was empty with no signs of any additional activity,” Dodge said.

Police swarmed the Sunderland woods on Wednesday  night and Thursday morning after they were alerted that Herberger-Brown might reside at a cabin in the area.

Dodge said the search also uncovered what police believe to be military discharge paperwork on a nature trail with Herberger-Brown’s name on it. Because the suspect was arrested Tuesday, he said, residents in that area are not in any danger.

The Albany (N.Y.) County Sheriff’s Office arrested Herberger-Brown, 42, of Greenfield, on a murder charge Tuesday night at Albany International Airport after Greenfield police found dismembered human remains inside his recently vacated apartment on Chapman Street. Laurie Loisel, a spokesperson for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office, said authorities have determined the victim’s identity, but it is not being released publicly yet pending notification of next of kin.

“The individual in custody made statements during booking in [New York] that led us to believe he may have a cabin in that area,” Dodge said during the search Wednesday night.

As part of the search, officers launched an aerial drone from a Greenfield Police Special Operations truck as a search crew rode into the woods on all-terrain vehicles. Greenfield and Sunderland police and Massachusetts State Police scoured the wooded area behind Cliffside Apartments.

Remains discovered

Herberger-Brown’s landlord reportedly called the Greenfield Police Department on Monday afternoon reporting a foul odor in Herberger-Brown’s former apartment. After entering the vacated room, the landlord noticed an object sticking out of a plastic bag in a trash barrel and reported a “bad odor and possible blood leaking from the trash barrel,” according to a report by Massachusetts State Trooper Blakeley Pottinger.

When Greenfield Police Officer Brent Griffin arrived at the apartment, he reported smelling “a strong foul odor that he believed, from his training and experience, was consistent with a decomposing human body.” Griffin also reported seeing trash and furniture scattered across the apartment, according to the police report.

“Officer Griffin indicated that the body appeared to be wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in the trash barrel, consistent with an attempt to conceal and dispose of the body,” the report states. “He realized the blood and flesh had been decomposing for an extended amount of time.”

Griffin called for backup from the State Police Detective Unit, the report states. Multiple items were seized from the apartment, including knives, a hatchet and a laptop.

At approximately 12:22 a.m. Tuesday, investigators received information that Herberger-Brown was at Albany International Airport.

According to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, Herberger-Brown was arrested at the “observation deck,” or the airport’s non-secure third-story deck, after sheriff’s deputies discovered his car in the parking lot. Greenfield Police and Massachusetts State Police later met Herberger-Brown in Albany and interrogated him.

“He didn’t even have an airline ticket or anything,” Apple said. “He was literally up in the observation deck probably trying to figure out what his next move was.”

Herberger-Brown reportedly told investigators he planned to visit his mother outside of the country, and suggested several different locations he might travel to, including Vancouver, Germany, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The police report states that he initially told authorities he had been in and out of hospitals and hadn’t been back at his apartment in months, but he later told investigators he got into a physical fight with someone who had broken into his home. He was unclear about when the altercation occurred.

He reportedly told police he believed the person was using drugs and that the victim’s “heart stopped” after the altercation, the police report states.

“After the altercation, Herberger-Brown told investigators that he left the apartment to obtain a tire rotation on his vehicle,” the report continues.

Wednesday morning, biohazard cleanup trucks lined the driveway behind 92 Chapman St. as State Police entered the apartment, taking photos of its interior. Herberger-Brown’s neighbors in the community known as Chapman Court watched as police entered and exited.

Kayleigh Miller, who lives next door, described Herberger-Brown as a “super nice and super polite guy,” who would often lend a hand around the community. Miller recalled she had a brief exchange with Herberger-Brown when she left the house early Monday morning.

Herberger-Brown is currently in custody at the Albany County Correctional Facility. According to Loisel, it is unclear when he will be extradited back to Massachusetts to face charges.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.