Mingo County Prosecuting Attorney C. Michael Sparks commended the jury panel for its outstanding service, noting “the grand jury efficiently finished a substantial workload of 43 cases in a mere one and a half days. It has been a pleasure working with such dedicated citizens.”
A roundup of defendants named in the sealed indictments was to begin today by officers of the West Virginia State Police and the Williamson Police Department.
Chief Judge Michael Thornsbury set arraignments for 9 a.m. Thursday in the Circuit Courtroom..
Only three of the true bills were unsealed. One was a two-count indictment charging Roger David Stroud of Kermit with first degree murder of his 29-year-old estranged wife, Vadie “Michelle” Stroud of Kermit, on Sept. 21, 2009.
#He is accused of premeditatively and feloniously slaying his wife at a mining site by use of a firearm. Count II of the indictment charges him with intentionally and feloniously concealing the human body of the deceased after unlawfully causing her death by murder.
The other indictment on a charge of first degree murder names Tommy Blaine Vance as the defendant. Vance is accused of premeditatively and feloniously murdering Jason Andrew Lee on Nov. 14, 2009. Count I charges Vance with feloniously performing an act with a firearm which created wanton endangerment of Jason Andrew Lee and Raymond Hammonds.
The third unsealed indictment charges Melanie McCoy, also known as “Little Bit,” 24, of Crum, with feloniously committing a larceny during a nighttime entry, without breaking, into Jimmy Asbury’s dwelling house on March 30, 2009.
#Sparks said Senior Trooper B.R. Moore of the West Virginia State Police and Williamson Police Lt. C. D. Rockel jointly and separately investigated 30 of the cases involved in the indictments. He commended them for their “continued outstanding productivity.”
The prosecutor also singled out Cpl. N. Mines of the Mingo County Sheriff’s Department for being the primary investigator in nine drug cases, and also cited Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. J. “Smith (State v. Stroud) and Deputy L. Thomas (State v. Vance) for their investigative work in the murder cases.
“We have seen sustainable progress from our extensive drug enforcement efforts,” said Sparks. “Still, drug trafficking continues to be a pervasive problem in Mingo County. Therefore, drug enforcement will continue to be the top priority of our criminal justice program.”
The prosecutor addressed some advice to persons involved in drugs:
“If you are dealing drugs to support your drug addiction, seek treatment or your sobriety will be involuntarily imposed in jail.
“If you are dealing drugs to supplement your income, seek employment, curtail your greed or simply learn to live with less because your liberty is priceless.”
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