CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Preliminary hearings are scheduled this week for three West Virginia state prison inmates charged earlier this month in connection with a 1989 murder in the Harrison County Jail.
Harrison County deputies charged Charles Franklin, 64, Warren Franklin, 63, and Frederick Hamilton, 62, in the murder John Perry who was at the jail waiting to testify against William “Red” Snyder who was accused of killing inmate Kent Slie in the January 1986 riot at the Moundsville State Prison.
Harrison County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Dixon Pruitt has spent most of the last year investigating the cold case. He filed charges two weeks ago. He said the three defendants, all inmates at the Mount Olive State Prison, are scheduled to appear before a magistrate this week.
“If the magistrate says there was probable cause for the arrest then it will be presented to the grand jury is most likely what will happen,” Pruitt said.
Court documents allege Charles Franklin and his brother Warren Franklin began beating Perry in the face and stepped on his neck. Hamilton allegedly served as the lookout and then used his own shirt to strangle Perry. According to their criminal complaints, all three men have confessed.
Pruitt said there are other suspects being considered.
“It’s still ongoing. I’m looking at other people that I believe were involved,” Pruitt said. “Hopefully, at some point in time I can charge them also.”
Warren Franklin is serving life without parole, Charles Franklin is projected for release in 2023 and Hamilton is in jail but has a parole hearing scheduled next year.