CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The state alleges a man charged in a 2014 Harrison County murder committed the crime to avoid having his probation revoked.
Shane Andrew Miller, 22, of Lumberport, appeared in court Monday to face one count of first degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
In her opening argument, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Traci Cook, alleged that Darrel Golden, 57, of Clarksburg, was killed because he knew about a breaking and entering committed by Miller.
The first two witnesses, Golden’s sister and a patrolman with the Clarksburg Police Department, were utilized to help establish the state’s timeline.
On March 16, 2014, Golden left his sister’s home on Locust Ave. in Clarksburg after receiving a call from Miller, whom she heard over speakerphone.
She explained the relationship between the two as a sort of mentorship, with Golden taking Miller “under his wing.”
On March 17, Patrolman William Dawson received a call reporting Golden missing after he did not return to his sister’s that night, and a report was filed to begin the investigation.
The largest portion of the state’s timeline was provided Monday by its next witness, Miller’s accomplice and at-the-time-fiance Tracy Boals.
Before the events of March 16, Boals began to worry when Miller came to their home one day saying he had $1,500 and not to worry where it came from.
After talking to him about it for a while, she eventually pieced together that Miller and Golden had discussed robbing a business in downtown Clarskburg in order to help Miller make a car payment.
However, when Golden backed out and Miller went through with it, the younger man began to worry that the elder would tell authorities investigating the crime.
Having been previously convicted of a crime and placed on probation, Miller faced between 7-48 years in prison if charged with breaking and entering.
In a conversation with other family members, Miller “kept talking about how Darrel had to die,” according to Boals and while it scared her, she wasn’t sure if he meant the threat.
Then, on March 16, Boals and Miller drove from Lumberport to Clarskburg in order to go to a laundromat, when they stopped at a McDonald’s to get food. However, the two left without ordering after Miller made a call on a borrowed cell phone and they drove to Locust Avenue, where they found Golden walking around.
Miller offered to give Golden a ride to go look around the countryside and drink beers, which they did, out to a pond near where Miller and Boals lived along with several other places before coming back to the same pond.
Boals said everything seemed fine as they walked around and drank for about ten minutes before she walked ahead of the two toward the car and heard the crash of a beer bottle.
She turned around to see Miller chocking Golden from behind until he was unconscious.
Miller then allegedly told Boals to “grab a pant leg” and pull the body to the pond, where he held Golden’s face under the water for approximately five minutes as she walked away.
When she turned around again, she heard Golden make what she described as a “death gurgle” before Miller went through the man’s pockets and pulled out change.
They then left the scene changing and discarding blood and mud-stained clothes as they fled.
Miller threatened Boals, saying that if she ever spoke of the events, she could “disappear just as easily and just as quick.”
Several plans were set into motion once it was learned the authorities wanted the two after Golden’s body was found by a fisherman days later.
The first was proposed by one of Miller’s older brothers –who is set to testify later– and involved them dyeing their hair and leaving the state in his car. It was abandoned after they visited another of Miller’s brothers in New Jersey who encouraged them to take their chances back home.
The next plan was for the two to get married, as Miller suggested that a husband and wife cannot testify against one another –even though that does not apply to crimes allegedly committed together. The two applied for a certificate on March 24 and were married March 29.
The two then “worked on their story” should they be caught.
One of which was for Boals to claim Golden had sexually assaulted her and he was killed in the ensuing fight. If that did not work, another story was to then blame it on a head injury Miller sustained in a previous ATV accident.
When originally approached by police, Boals gave the story involving the sexual assault, saying she was convinced by Miller that she would get a lesser sentence and they could still be together.
She stuck to that story until after she spoke with her family and was being transported to North Central Regional Jail. She then relayed the events as told Monday afternoon.
Defense attorney Perry Jones attempted to discredit Boals’ testimony during cross examination by questioning the timeline of events as she established them, casting doubt on her ability to see the alleged drowning from her stated vantage point and scrutinizing her motives for testifying against Miller.
Boals pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal in exchange for her testimony against Miller. She was sentenced in August to 15 years in prison with a chance at parole after four years.
The trial is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.