Police: ‘Bad blood’ leads to shooting
A New Freeport man was shot Monday afternoon after state police said he broke into a home in Springhill Township, Greene County, and allegedly assaulted a man who implicated his son in a triple homicide last year in West Virginia.
Jimmy W. Spencer, 53, of 305 Gilbert Ridge Road, was taken by helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. W.Va., with a bullet wound to the chest. He was in serious condition Tuesday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Spencer was shot by David M. Riley, 53, after he broke into Riley’s home at 498 Morford Road, police said. Riley was a witness against Spencer’s son, Samuel Spencer, who pleaded guilty to homicide charges earlier this year in Wetzel County, W.Va.
Jimmy Spencer was charged late Tuesday afternoon by state police with retaliation against a witness, aggravated assault, simple assault and other charges.
Spencer went to Riley’s house about 1:50 p.m., police said, pounded on the door and demanded to be let in. Riley called 911. Spencer then forced his way in and threatened Riley with a large metal pry bar, police said.
Spencer struck Riley with the bar, causing a cut above Riley’s right eye. He then pulled a screwdriver from his pocket and started to approach Riley.
Riley retreated into a back bedroom and, as Spencer continued to approach, shot him once with the handgun he carried in a holster on his side, police said.
Trooper Daniel Barnhart, the investigating officer, said the “bad blood” between the two men stems from the homicide investigation in Littleton.
“We believe the problems between Jimmy Spencer and David Riley are tied into that investigation,” Barnhart said.
Samuel Spencer, 26, of Wind Ridge, was prosecuted in Wetzel County, W.Va., for the Jan. 13, 2014, deaths of Michael McDougal, 63, and Carmen McDougal, 55, both of Littleton, and Jimmy Kisner, 48, of Aleppo.
The bodies of the McDougals were found in the charred remains of their mobile home in Littleton, while Kisner’s body was found outside the home. An autopsy revealed all three were stabbed to death.
Riley provided West Virginia State Police with information implicating Samuel Spencer in the homicide, according to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday against Jimmy Spencer.
Riley told West Virginia police Samuel Spencer stopped at his house the night of the homicide to clean a cut on his hand and confessed in detail to how he just killed the McDougals and Kisner, according to the criminal complaint filed against Samuel Spencer. Riley said Spencer said to him, “I told you I would get them back.”
Samuel Spencer was initially charged with first-degree murder. On Feb. 20, he entered an Alford plea, meaning he asserted his innocence but admitted evidence could persuade a judge or jury to find him guilty, in Wetzel County Court and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
His girlfriend, Natasha Burns, 27, who also was charged, pleaded no contest to one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer. She was released after receiving a sentence of 215 days.