"PERSON OF INTEREST" IN KANAWHA SNIPER CASE SURFACES AGAIN

(03/24/2004)
A Kanawha County man questioned in last summer's sniper-style shootings in that county and later charged in an unrelated shooting, has just been accused of shooting at a natural gas line.

Brian D. Caldwell, 46, of Winifrede was arrested yesterday on a federal charge of being a "prohibitive person in possession of a firearm."

Charleston Police Chief Jerry Pauley described Caldwell as being "a person of interest" in the sniper case, but charges have never been filed.

Caldwell was arrested in December on charges of attempted murder and wanton endangerment in a shooting on Cabin Creek last February.

He was questioned by a county-state-federal task force investigating the sniper-style slayings in August, four days after two people were killed outside eastern Kanawha County convenience stores.

Caldwell is being held today at the South Central Regional Jail.