CLAKRSBURG, W.Va. — The second day of testimony in the case against a man charged with a 2014 Harrison County murder focused on motive and the initial investigation.
The state on Thursday attempted to show why Shane Andrew Miller, 22, of Lumberport would beat and drowned Darrel Golden, 57, of Clarksburg, at a mining pond near his home.
Several days before the alleged murder Clarskburg Police were investigating an overnight burglary in which a change box and cigarettes were stolen from the Bluebird along Main Street.
Store owner Eric Leaseburg testified that the night before, when two of his employees attempted to lock up, the pin locks at the top of the glass door for the rear entrance had been uncharacteristically released before they locked it back.
That detail made him believe that the crime had to have been organized by a customer and his mind went to a regular that had been bringing around a new face recently.
Leaseburg said he had never met Miller up until he started coming in with Golden a few days before the crime.
When confronted, Golden said he “knew who it was and would take care of it.”
Video surveillance footage did not clearly identify who smashed the back window and took out the camera in the gaming parlor with a snow shovel, but the suspect was close enough to Miller’s description that he became a suspect in the crime.
However, Lt. Jason Snider with the Clarksburg PD testified that while he interviewed Miller, he never charged him with the crime. A fact the defense is quick to point out to the jury.
The state, represented by Assistant Prosecutor Traci Cook, argued that Miller killed Golden to prevent him from talking to authorities because he feared having his probation revoked.
As Miller’s probation officer told the court on the witness stand, he would have been facing no less than 7 and no more than 48 years in prison had he been charged with the felony offense.
The focus of the trial then turned to what happened after the events of March 16, 2014, in which Miller allegedly hit Golden in the head with a beer bottle, dragged his body to the mining pond and held his head under water until he died.
The state called two of the lead investigators from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department to the stand to walk the jury through their initial findings.
Marks along the ground, dirt under Golden’s belt and two sets of footprints at the scene led Lt. Pat McCarty, commander of investigations for the Sheriff’s Department to believe Golden had been dragged into the water.
Signs of blunt force trauma to the side of Golden’s head indicated that he was beaten, but there were no beer bottles recovered for evidence as the spot is frequented for drinking.
McCarty also testified they were able to recover the articles of clothing allegedly thrown from Miller’s vehicle as he left the scene –mainly a hat, a sweatshirt and shoes.
In cross examination, the defense attempted to discredit a key part of Tracy Boals’ testimony from Monday, her ability to see Miller allegedly drown Golden from over 100 feet away standing in the road next to the pond.
(Read more on Boals’ testimony against her ex-husband here.)
McCarty said that while some vantage points would be blocked depending on where you stood, the first time he saw the body was when it was pointed out to him from the road. The second lead investigator, Sgt. Rob Waybright, circled his car on a picture taken from where Golden’s body was facing the road during his testimony.
Other evidence entered by the state on Thursday included phone records that showed Miller called Golden eight times leading up to March 15, the day before the alleged murder, and no calls afterward.
The defense attributed the lack of calls to Miller’s cell phone breaking.
This was mentioned by Miller himself when the state played a recording of the initial interview conducted by Waybright and McCarty after the body was found.
After a brief discussion beforehand, the two investigators agreed to not disclose the new information to Miller and talk to him as if they were investigating Golden’s disappearance rather than his murder.
Near the end of the approximately half-hour interview, Lt. McCarty asked Miller if he cared what happened to Golden.
“Yeah,” Miller responded on the recording. “He drinks a lot, but he’s a good person.”
The trial is set to resume Friday morning, with Judge John Marks believing the case may reach jury deliberation before the end of the day.