Marion County judge hears misconduct arguments in Pagan’s first-degree murder case
• By Eric Cravey | Times West Virginian November 5, 2024
https://www.timeswv.com/news/tuesday_news/marion-county-judge-hears-misconduct-arguments-in-pagans-first-degree-murder-case/article_1f9fb380-9aea-11ef-9347-3fb05f4b05ab.html
FAIRMONT — A Marion County Circuit Court Judge said he will take under advisement recent motion hearing arguments from attorneys in a first-degree murder case involving a member of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club.
The hearing was held in response to recent court filings from Assistant Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Sean Murphy and Wheeling-based defense attorney Elaine McArdle who is representing Ryan Ray Lane, 37, of Fairmont. Lane is one of six Pagan’s members charged for the Sept. 9, 2022 fatal shooting of fellow Pagan’s member Henry Silver who was believed to be involved in a secret affair with Pagan John Lee Wolfe’s girlfriend.
Silver was shot at the Carolina Arbors apartments in Carolina after, police said, Pagan’s members met and planned the killing earlier that night.
Murphy denies any wrongdoing as McArdle alleged and also asked Judge David Janes to recommend sanctioning McArdle and her fellow colleagues — Stanton Levenson and Amy Levenson Jones, both of Pittsburgh — for judicial misconduct.
Murphy responded to a motion filed Oct. 16 asking Janes to throw out the indictment and charges filed against Lane. Murphy stated in court documents that McArdle used “alternative facts” in asking the judge to provide “pretrial relief” for Lane.
“Conduct such as that exhibited by counsel for defendant Lane in this matter is most commonly observed in politics but as evidenced by the instant motion it has made its way into most aspects of life, including the hallowed halls of truth and dignity which are the Courtrooms of West Virginia and Marion County,” Murphy writes in his Oct. 28 response to McArdle’s filing.
McArdle had asked the judge in mid-October to end the case saying that fellow Pagan’s member Austin Mullins had written three letters stating he killed Silver and that Murphy and Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Freeman knew Lane was not the shooter when they presented Lane’s case to the Marion County Grand Jury the first week of October.
However, Murphy denies that allegation. He said there is “ample evidence that Lane knew a shooting was going to occur on September 9, 2022 and that it was preplanned,” which is the standard for first-degree murder.
In his filing, Murphy states that Lane and John Lee Wolfe, who has already been sentenced for Silver’s murder, had communicated a number of times about “taking care of that [expletive] [Silver].”
“Multiple surveillance videos depict the members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club, including Lane, arriving at the meeting where taking care of Silver was discussed,” the court document states.
Murphy goes on to restate that Wolfe texted Lane to keep his phone on because he might need bail money that October night. He also restates that Lane and Wolfe met that night after the shooting took place.
Murphy goes on to rebuke McArdle’s statement from the Oct. 16 filing in which she said the State knew Mullins killed Silver instead of Lane, an aspect of the case McArdle described as an “Incontestable Fact.”
“The State did not withhold any exculpatory information from the grand jury; the State did not mislead the grand jury,” states the filing. “Other than John Wolfe, not a single defendant in this matter has given a statement to law enforcement.”
The response from Murphy also states that no plea agreement had been reached between the prosecution and Mullins nor has the State taken a statement from Mullins.
“As there has been no plea agreement entered into by and between the State of West Virginia and Austin Mullins there has not been any plea ‘pulled away’ from Austin Mullins,” states the filing. “With respect to this particular issue it would appear that the persons making such allegations have gotten ahead of themselves and have accusations based upon rumor, gossip, innuendo and supposition,” states the filing.
Law enforcement did not arrest Lane near the time of the shooting, but took him into custody this past June.
On June 11, 2024 Murphy presented Mullins’ attorney, Kevin Tipton with a flash drive that not only contained documents needed for discovery in Mullins’ case but a letter in which the State “offered to agree to Mr. Mullins pleading guilty to first degree murder and further that the State would not resist his request for mercy at sentencing.”
However, the agreement never came to fruition because Tipton did not accept it by June 25, the date Murphy set for the offer to expire.
“On June 24, 2024 at 9:20 a.m. Kevin Tipton communicated to the State of West Virginia the following: “Mullins is leaning toward the plea. I am on vacation until the 8th. I will let you know for sure that week,” states Murphy’s motion.
Murphy also states that none of the six men have cooperated with law enforcement and are sticking to the Pagan’s code of “no one talks, everybody walks.”
“The effort to pull the wool over everybody’s eyes does not cease with the wholesale manufacture of evidentiary alternative facts, no, it continues with zeal and incomprehensible allegations of procedural misconduct,” states Murphy’s motion. “Ryan Lane and his champions continue to complain of bad faith, pre-indictment delay and obfuscation and lack of professional candor …”
Two days after filing her motion, on Oct. 18, McArdle claimed Murphy filed a retaliatory search warrant of Lane’s jail cell in an attempt to intimidate him. She said the search warrant was in violation of Lane’s constitutional rights and is demanding Lane’s personal belongings that were seized be returned to him.
Meanwhile, both sides await Janes’ ruling.
Comments