Saturday, June 04, 2011
EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...6-5-'11
- The trial of 24 year old Zerlinda White of St. Albans was scheduled to begin Monday in front of Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jim Stucky, but the judge was notified by the Kanawha County Prosecutor's Office the indictment against her would be dismissed. Judge Stucky signed the order Friday. White was arrested in April 2010 after the death of her two-month-old infant son Ayden. Police originally said the boy died of an abusive closed head injury. No word from prosecutors on why the decision was made to dismiss the indictment or if they plan to refile charges.
- James A. Maddy, 68, and his wife, Charlotte, 66, died Friday after a wreck on Interstate 64 between the Eisenhower Drive and Beaver exits. Police believe James Maddy experienced some type of medical problem while he was driving his motorcycle down the fast lane, and he began shifting to the right, as if he were trying to get off of the road, when the front tire dropped off the roadway into gravel and the front of the bike twisted, ejecting the couple over the handlebars. James Maddy was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the emergency room of Beckley Appalachian Regional Healthcare Hospital, while Charlotte Maddy died later Friday evening at the hospital.
- A Kanawha County Judge denied bond Friday for Shawn Lester, the man charged with first-degree murder in the 2003 sniper-style shooting of Jeannie Patton, who was shot to death at a Speedway near Campbells Creek. Prosecutors claim to have a slew of new evidence, including statements from several witnesses saying the suspect admitted to the crime. Lester's defense attorney, George Castelle, argued that bond should be set at a reasonable level based on Lester's cooperation with investigators and the fact his client was not a flight risk, considering he hadn't left the Charleston area in eight years since the shooting. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Don Morris claimed a number of witness had come forward since April's preliminary hearing and given crucial statements to police. At least three of those statementsinclude new witnesses claiming Lester directly confessed to killing Patton and one who alleges Lester admitted to committing all three sniper-style shootings. Police say Okey Meadows Jr. and Gary Carrier were killed with the same .22 caliber rifle used to kill Patton. Morris also cited numerous other statements from witnesses who say Lester either implied he committed the crime, or implicated himself in some other form, including statements from three people who say they saw Lester with a .22 rifle less than half an hour after Patton's murder. Many of those statements corroborate investigators' theory that the killings happened over stolen drugs. Police say Lester owed money to a man known as "Tito" after an engine was stolen from Lester's car garage on Rutledge Road. The engine, full of Tito's methamphetamine, was allegedly stolen by Meadows, Carrier, Patton and her boyfriend, Marty Walker.
- James Whitt from Chapmanville was arrested Friday evening and charged with the first degree murder of Michael Richards, whose body found in the Switzer area on Thursday. Troopers say Michael Richards took a serious hit to the head, which is what killed him. During a search of Whitt's home, police seized some clothing they say Whitt wore during the crime. They also took the pickup truck they say he was driving at the time.
- Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputies arrested 48 year old Samuel Glenn Garwood of Charleston, South Carolina Wednesday at a Cross Lanes motel on a fugitive complaint involving the robbery of a credit union in South Carolina. Deputies continued to investigate and now believe he robbed the Pioneer Federal Credit Union in South Charleston on May 26th and the Universal Federal Credit Union in Barboursville on Wednesday, June 1st. Garwood will be extradited to South Carolina.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:34 PM 
