BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — The case against a Morgan County man accused of shooting three unarmed men will head to a grand jury for consideration after a magistrate found probable cause to proceed on Monday.
The shooting deaths occurred in June over a trespassing dispute near Gamble Road on Sideling Hill Mountain, prosecutors said.
Erick David Shute, 32, faces three counts of murder in connection with the fatal shootings of Jack Douglas, 49, of Great Cacapon, William Bartley, 49, and Bartley’s son, Travis Bartley, 24, both of Hedgesville.
Police found the victims’ bodies on the ground near a pickup truck.
A fourth man who was with the victims walked away before the shooting began and called police.
Shute claims there was a history of bad blood between himself and the victims over the last few years and that the shooting was self-defense.
During Monday’s preliminary hearing, one of the deputies working the scene said Shute fired at the victims from behind a tree “50 to 100 feet away.”
Morgan County Prosecutor Debra McLaughlin said it is unlikely that the case will be brought before the grand jury at its September session. It may not be until January.
Shute is being held without bail at Eastern Regional Jail near Martinsburg.