FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — A Fayette County man faces two life prison terms with the chance for parole on each after he was convicted Friday in the January 2022 shooting deaths of his daughter and son-in-law.
A 12-member jury found Carl Cox, 61, of Fayetteville, killed Rhonda Cox, 38, and Jimmy Neal, 34, also of Fayetteville, as they were sleeping in their bed at a home on Dempsey Road.
Prosecutors said Cox killed them because the couple was threatening to tell police about many years of incest between Cox and his daughter that began when she was a minor.
Carl Cox told police Neal killed Cox’s daughter and then Neal when shot as Carl Cox was trying to take the gun away. Prosecutors said home security video contradicted that account.
The jury did find Cox guilty of murder with mercy on both counts meaning he’ll have a chance for parole after serving 15 years in prison on both first-degree murder convictions. The judge will decide if the life terms will be served concurrently on consecutively.