FAIRMONT, W.Va.– One of two men charged in connection with the 1974 Windmill Park murders in Fairmont will not face prosecution for the crimes in Marion County. Phillip Reese Bush is already serving life sentence for two other murders in Ohio County.
Marion County Prosecutor Pat Wilson said Friday he decided not to bring Bush to trial in the Windmill Park case since Bush will never get out of prison anyway. He said dropping the charges will save the county tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses.
Forty years ago, Guy Lester Phillips, 20, his wife, Wanda Jane Phillips, 19, and Billy Ray Cobb, 27, were murdered execution style in the Windmill Park section of Fairmont. Authorities believed the murders were part of a drug deal gone bad.
The case remained unsolved until last year.