Drugs and theft dominate Raleigh County Grand Jury Indictments - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Drugs and theft dominate Raleigh County Grand Jury Indictments

Posted: Updated:
By Douglas Fritz - email

The Raleigh County Grand Jury met in January to review 75 cases that were put before them.  A list of the indictments that were issued was handed out on Tuesday, Jan. 22. 

The crimes that were committed during this session ranged from Shoplifting and DUI to Sexual Assault and Murder.  Of course, drug related crimes and robberies are still dominating the list.  Of those, 20-percent were for drug related offences and nearly 19-percent were for burglary and robbery.

There were also several cases of crimes involving death, including one murder and one child.

The murder case is against Donald Blane Moore.  He is accused of killing James Williams of Artie.  Williams was shot under the arm at the Hillbilly Tavern in Rock Creek.  It happened on Sunday, Sept. 16.  Williams died while he was being taken to the hospital.  Moore turned himself in hours after the shooting occurred.  Sheriff's deputies said that the shooting began with an argument inside the bar.

Meanwhile, Charles Warren Wickline was indicted on a charge of Child Neglect Causing Death.  That happened on July 5, while many West Virginians were dealing with power outages from the derecho that struck on June 29.  Wickline apparently hit and killed a 1-year-old child with his truck.  That happened at 4 p.m. on Bacontown Road in Jonben.  Raleigh County Sheriff Steve Tanner said at the time that Wickline did not call for emergency assistance when the accident happened and then apparently tried to cover up what happened when investigators began asking questions.

Another case on the indictments involved a Raleigh County Sheriff's Deputy.  Randy Burgess was charged with Child Neglect Causing Bodily Injury.  He was arraigned on Jan. 16.

Those people who were indicted are scheduled for arraignment on Monday, Jan. 28 at the Raleigh County Judicial Annex on Main Street in Beckley.  Arraignments in front of Judge Robert Burnside are scheduled for 9 a.m.  Those being seen by Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick are being held at 11 a.m. and those going before Judge John Hutchinson are being held at 1:30 p.m.

A complete list of the indictments can be viewed at the link below.