Tag: Sheriff Eugene Crum

Judge Sends Suspect in Sheriff Death Back to Mental Facility

Prosecutors say a man accused of fatally shooting a sheriff in 2013 is returning to a psychiatric hospital for further evaluation.

Kanawha County Prosecutor Chuck Miller tells The Herald-Dispatch that a Cabell County circuit judge Thursday returned Tennis Melvin Maynard to William R. Sharpe Hospital, with an update expected in 90 days. The court hearing was closed to the media.

Police say Maynard shot ex-Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum in April 2013 in downtown Williamson.

In 2015, after a judge ruled Maynard incompetent to stand trial on murder and other charges, the Delbarton resident was committed to the hospital.

In March, the judge said he would let defense attorneys decide whether to challenge new hospital findings that Maynard was returned to competency. Maynard’s lawyer requested the hearing Thursday.

Court Upholds Dismissal of Lawsuit Filed by Sheriff's Widow

The state Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the widow of Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum over burial expenses.

WCHS-TV reports the court ruled Friday it found no error in a Mingo County Circuit Court decision that no contract existed between Rosie Crum and the lawsuit’s defendants.

She filed the 2015 lawsuit claiming that two Mingo County commissioners and a former commissioner assured her that they would take care of her husband’s funeral and burial costs. It claimed a funeral home arranged for an elaborate funeral without her permission and held her responsible for the costs.

Eugene Crum was fatally shot as he ate lunch in his parked vehicle in Williamson in April 2013.

Suspect Tennis Maynard was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

W.Va. Man Found Incompetent for Trial in Sheriff's Death

  A West Virginia man has been found incompetent to stand trial in the fatal shooting of Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum.

Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Ferrell on Thursday ordered Tennis Melvin Maynard committed to a state mental health facility for life.

Crum was killed in April 2013 while parked in his cruiser in downtown Williamson.

Farrell had ordered a mental health evaluation in November 2013 for Maynard. Last February, Farrell indefinitely postponed Maynard’s murder trial.

Maynard’s father has previously said his son has mental health issues, and evidence collected by the Mingo County prosecutor’s office included orders of involuntary hospitalizations. 

Farrell presided over the case on special assignment.

Ex-Mingo Prosecutor Seeks to Avoid Prison Time

Former Mingo County prosecutor Michael Sparks is asking a federal judge for a sentence other than prison time in his corruption case.

Media outlets report that an attorney for Sparks says an alternative sentence like community service would allow Sparks to teach others about the “perils of political corruption.”
 
Federal prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston to give Sparks the maximum sentence of a year in prison. The sentencing is set for Monday in Charleston.
 
Sparks pleaded guilty in 2013 to depriving campaign sign maker George White of his constitutional rights. Prosecutors say Sparks participated in a scheme to protect the late Sheriff Eugene Crum from accusations that the sheriff bought prescription painkillers from White.
 

Former Mingo Judge Sentenced to 50 Months in Prison

A former Mingo County judge has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for federal corruption charges.

Michael Thornsbury was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

Thornsbury pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to deprive George White of his constitutional rights.

The conspiracy charge was related to a scheme to protect the late Sheriff Eugene Crum from illegal drug use accusations.

The sentence was more than the federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors had said Thornsbury should receive a lengthy sentence because he abused his power and damaged the county’s judicial system.

Thornsbury’s lawyers wanted leniency, saying he has cooperated with an ongoing federal corruption investigation in the county.

They say his wife divorced him, he lost his law license and pension, and someone burned down his parents’ home.

Charges Dismissed Against Figure in Mingo Probe

A judge has dismissed drug charges against a central figure in a federal corruption investigation in Mingo County.
 

The Charleston Gazette reports that Circuit Judge John Cummings on Monday granted a special prosecutor’s request to dismiss the state charges against George White without prejudice. That means the charges can’t be filed again.
 
Federal prosecutors have said the late Sheriff Eugene Crum had White arrested instead of paying $3,000 he owed for campaign signs made by White. White then went to federal agents and told them he provided Crum with pills.
 
Former county prosecutor Michael Sparks and former Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury have pleaded guilty to federal charges that they kept White from talking to the FBI to protect Crum. Crum was killed in an unrelated shooting last April.

 

Exit mobile version