PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — A Wood County man is being held without bail after being charged with killing a husband and wife at a Mineral Wells residence Tuesday morning, police said.
Jeff Sampson, 46, of Mineral Wells, allegedly opened fire on Shawn Michael Hardman, 43, and Brandy Lynn Hardman, 40, both of Waverly. The couple had been called to the residence of Sampson’s ex-wife, Karen Sampson, 30, who was involved in a heated argument with her husband Jeff Sampson.
“During the process he was being difficult with her and she received a phone call from an outside source and they asked her if she was okay. They ended up coming to her residence,” said Wood County Sheriff Steve Stephens. “They were actually coming there to help her.”
The sheriff said they are still investigating exactly how the encounter unfolded once the Hardman’s arrived, but ultimately both were shot. Brandy Hardman died at the scene and her husband was pronounced dead later at a Parkersburg hospital. Karen Sampson was not injured. Jeff Sampson fled the home and the area.
“To be quite frank, I’ve been in office for ten days. From my experience this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this and I was a police officer in Vienna for 28 years,” Stephens said. “It is a sad situation.”
Sampson was arrested at around noon Tuesday after leading State Police on a chase in Braxton County. The pursuit ended near Sutton Lake.
The Wood County Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation. Sampson remains housed at the Central Regional Jail in Flatwoods. He is due for a bond hearing Friday 11:45 a.m. before Judge J.D. Beane in Wood County Circuit Court.