ELKINS, W.Va. — The West Virginia State Police is conducting an internal investigation in hopes of finding out what happened to a knife believed to be used in an Oct. 2012 stabbing death in Randolph County.
The murder trial of Thomas Chevy Vas, 18, was scheduled to begin this week but was postponed to December because the knife has come up missing.
Captain D.P. Reider of the Elkins State Police Detachment told MetroNews Monday they are following a paper trail.
“The documentation that I have looked at–the item was submitted to the lab. I think the problem lies in when the item was sent back from the lab to the detachment,” Captain Reider said. “It (evidence) is shipped by certified U.S. mail so we are in the process to try and ascertain what happened. We do have a paper trail.”
Reider was not stationed in Elkins when the crime occurred. He said he found out about the missing knife just last Thursday. He said the detachment does have the the clothes were worn that night by Vas and the victim. He said reports they too had been lost are inaccurate.
Randolph County Prosecutor Michael Parker said he plans on taking Vas to trial in December with or without a knife. Vas allegedly murdered 17-year-old Dustin White at a Tygarts Valley High School football game. They were both students at the school.
Captain Reider said whether or not the knife is ever used in the trial it’s important to find out what happened to it.
“We’re going to interview the investigating officer and anybody else we deem necessary in this case to figure out where the knife went to. It could be anywhere from one to two interviews to several. It just depends where the investigation takes us,” Captain Reider said.