Trooper: Stabbing victim stabilizes; motive still under investigation

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December 11, 2012

Trooper: Stabbing victim stabilizes; motive still under investigation

By TAMMIE TOLER Princeton Times The Zope Gazette Tue Dec 11, 2012, 10:11 AM EST

PRINCETON — Despite sustaining several severe lacerations to the neck, the 67-year-old man bludgeoned by a neighbor in a weekend altercation continues to improve.

West Virginia State Police Trooper D.C. Graham said Monday that the man’s condition is still very serious, but the officer is hopeful.

“I think he’s going to come out on top of this,” Graham said.

Meanwhile, the suspect, Roy Lee Williams, 41, of Princeton, was charged with kidnapping, attempting to commit murder, malicious wounding and armed robbery.

The altercation remains under investigation, but the officer confirmed that Mercer 911 received a report of an assault on LJ Street, near Princeton, at approximately 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7.

Graham and Trooper W.H. File responded to the neighborhood surrounding Princeton Village and White Oak Mobile Home Park.

Inside the residence, Graham said it was obvious that a physical dispute had occurred and that the victim sustained a life-threatening wound.

“We arrived, quite frankly, to a pretty disturbing scene,” Graham said, explaining that the victim obviously had several severe cuts in the neck and that a significant amount of blood was spread throughout the bathroom.

“He was transported to the hospital pretty quickly,” Graham said.

Before leaving for treatment, the man reportedly gave officers enough information to identify Williams as a suspect.

Investigators searched for Williams into the early morning hours, and at approximately 8 a.m. Saturday, Graham said, the suspect surrendered at the WVSP Princeton Detachment.

The trooper declined to speculate on a motive for the altercation, except to say that the two men were neighbors and acquaintances and that the fight stemmed from a discussion the two were having before the physical confrontation occurred.

“We were able to recover valuable evidence from the scene, and it will be used to prosecute [Williams],” Graham said.

The suspect remains in custody at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver. Mercer Magistrate Charles Poe arraigned Williams Sunday on charges of malicious wounding, attempted murder and armed robbery, ordering a $100,000 cash bond. The magistrate reported that a circuit court judge must issue a bond on the kidnapping charge, due to the code that Williams is alleged to have violated.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

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Trooper: Stabbing victim stabilizes; motive still under investigation

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