A 62-year-old Allentown man has been charged with one count of homicide and one count of abuse of a corpse in the death of a woman whose body was found in a recycling bin in February.

Walter Bratvold, of 616 N. Godfrey St., apartment B, Allentown, was charged in the death of Rose Sieniawski, 59, after an investigation by Allentown police and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.

Police determined Bratvold and the woman had been in a relationship.

Bratvold was charged in February with five counts of attempted homicide and 10 counts of aggravated assault for allegedly shooting and injuring an Allentown detective investigating Sieniawski’s death.

Bratvold, who was shot in an exchange of gunfire, was transferred March 8 from a hospital to Lehigh County Jail.

An affidavit of probable cause alleges:

At 3:51 p.m. on Feb. 14, Allentown police responded to 801-811 E. Tilghman St., after getting a report of a suspicious item being found in a recycling bin.

A maintenance worker noticed a foul-smelling odor coming from several trash bags inside the bin.

Police found a decomposed body, identified as that of a woman, inside the bags.

An autopsy determined the woman, who had not yet been identified, died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim ruled the manner of death as homicide.

Fingerprints were taken and were sent to the FBI for comparison.

The woman later was identified as Rose Sieniawski.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation records indicated Sieniawski lived at 616 N. Godfrey St., apartment B, in Allentown.

Police also learned that Sieniawski submitted an application with the Allentown Housing Authority to live at that address.

That address also was listed with Sieniawski’s employer, which was Walgreens.

PennDOT records showed Bratvold lived at that address.

Police also determined Bratvold owned multiple handguns.

Sieniawski’s employer told police she had not been to work since Feb. 9 and had not called in.

Workers verified Sieniawski left her job at about 10:30 p.m. Feb. 9 and walked away from the area with a man they identified as Bratvold.

On Feb. 16, members of the Allentown Police Emergency Response Team attempted to serve a warrant at 616 N. Godfrey St., apartment B.

Bratvold allegedly opened fire and struck Officer Chris Diehl.

Allentown police took Bratvold into custody and served him with the warrant.

Police recovered a .22-caliber revolver from the apartment that later was tested and matched a bullet recovered from Sieniawski.

Shell casings recovered from the apartment were analyzed and were consistent with being fired from the revolver.

Police determined the gun had been purchased by Bratvold.

The recycling bin in which the body was found was located at an apartment building two blocks from Bratvold’s apartment.