Story and Photo by Drew Moody
For the Hur Herald
drewmoody@verizon.net
WESTON - One man is dead; the suspected killer is jailed.
The crime amounted to a public execution, according to witnesses.
Weston Police Chief Roger "Rob" Clem believes as many as 20
people or more may have witnessed the murder.
Casey A. Gould, 19, of 124 Oak Street, Weston, is believed to be
the shooter. He's being held in the Central Regional Jail on wanton
endangerment charges. Magistrate Sharon Hull set a cash bail of $50,000.
Friday night was perfect for an Independence Day celebration.
Weston's Annual Fireman's Fourth of July Fireworks display had just
ended and the crowds headed home. Many were walking, and the
downtown Go-Mart was crowded.
An argument broke out between a group of people standing
near the dumpster area of the busy convenience store. It involved
both men and women thought to be in their late teens or early 20s.
The yelling was loud enough to be heard across the street in the Rite
Aid parking lot.
Rick Riffle, of Pricetown, looked up and saw a man walking rapidly
along the alley side of the building. As he emerged from the shadows
into the edge of a well-lit Go-Mart parking area, Riffle realized the man
carried a gun.
"He just came up the alley out of nowhere, and just pulled up the
gun and shot him," Riffle said.
Tim Marple, 25, of Weston, took a point-blank Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun
blast to his upper torso, according to police.
Witnesses said he may have been hit in the throat and shoulder. His limp
body fell to the concrete face down, Riffle said.
Rick Riffle is a 17-year veteran employee of the Lewis
County Senior Citizens Center. He was one of several
witnesses to the Friday night Weston Go Mart murder.
It was the final round, of what may have been an ongoing conflict between two
enemies. It began and ended in a matter of seconds, just before 11 p.m.
Police said Marple was transported initially to Stonewall Jackson Hospital,
then sent on to Morgantown via helicopter. He clung to life for
about 24 hours, dying sometime late Saturday or early Sunday morning.
"He wasn't no further than probably six feet away from him," Riffle
said. "I don't see how someone else didn't get hit in the process."
After the shot was fired, the suspect turned and disappeared into the
shadows, running back down the alley.
The call came into the Weston City Police at 10:59 p.m.
Chief Clem was the first officer to arrive at the scene.
"People were screaming; they were running everywhere," he said.
Within minutes nearly a dozen police officers arrived and sealed off
the area. Police organized a search for the suspect who had fled the
area on foot.
Witnesses said police used dogs to aid the tracking effort.
Gould was arrested sometime later, a few blocks from the shooting.
Police recovered the murder weapon, but have made no comments
about it.
Court records indicate it was a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun.
An acquaintance of both men, who requested not to be identified,
said they leaned toward being a magnet for trouble. Plus,
they didn't like each other.
Marple may have been stabbed with a broken beer bottle recently.
And there was apparently a fight between the pair within the past
few weeks near Cemetery Road, not far from Gould's home.
Rumors about drug deals gone wrong and bad blood over a woman
were rampant throughout Weston.
Marple's body was taken to Charleston early Monday for
an autopsy.
Chief Clem expects to continue the investigation and question
witnesses over the next two days. A detailed report of this findings
will be released soon.
Ultimately an estimated 13 police officers responded to the murder
from Weston PD, Lewis County Sheriff's Department, and the West
Virginia State Police.
As of early Monday no funeral arrangements had been made for Marple,
according to Chief Clem.
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