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* AltralHtKI UdUf I UtluBf I MutfUfci '■»» »»/*Prosecutor Seeking First-Degree Murder VerdictBy JIM CALFEE Prosecutor David Knight has asked a petit jury in the Mercer County Intermediate Court to return a first-degree murder verdict — without a recommendation of mercy — in \ a case which began MondayKnight indicated the state’s position in his opening statement in the trial of Glen Meadows. 21, who has been charged in the slaying of Herbert Little, of Matoaka, this past April 1.Meadows, at the outset of the proceeding before Judge Jerome Katz, pleaded not guilty.”His defense to the charge was not clear from one of his attorney's opening remarks, although it appeared it may involve his mental condition David Burton, of Princeton, and Fred Muth, of Bluefield, are his lawyers.The trial, which will resume at 9:30 a m. Tuesday, saw 14 witnesses testify yesterday, including a lS-year-old girl who said she saw a body. . of a man” in the trunk of a car Meadows was driving on the evening of April 1. Knight, in his opening statement, said the state intendedto produce evidence that Meadows and a co-defendant, Arthur William Jenkins, robbed and murdered Ijttle in the Keglev area and disposed of his body in New RiverJenkins, 21, of Princeton, will be scheduled for trial during the October term of Katz’s court.Knight said that Little, who gave the two defendants a ride from Princeton, was first beaten with a metal object about the head and later strangled with his own neck tie.The state's first witness was Dr. Hawley Wells, a Princeton pathologist, who testified that death was by strangulation.” He said the victim also received ‘‘severe blows on the head” about the same time of the strangling Dr. Wells said Little had wording ofl injuries to the forearm,” a skull fracture, dislocated arm and fractured ribs. He indicated death occurred before little’s body was placed in New River.Another state witness, Phyllis Nicholson, said Meadows and Little were at her Princeton apartment until about 3 p.m. on April 1. She said Little, her “lover, told her as he left he was going to knock a man in the head. She said he didn’tindicate who he was talking about.The Matoaka juvenile said she went riding with Meadows and Jenkins later that day. She said she asked about an odor in the car and Meadows initially told her it was a dead cow.I^ate that evening, she testified, the trio went to the sandbar” on New River, where the alleged cow was to be disposed.At the river, she said Jenkins vomited and she got out of the car and observed a body in the trunk. She said there was blood on his face. She said Meadows dragged the body by the feet. . .over the hill” to the river.She said Meadows told her not to tell anyone. She said he was of the impression she was going to Illinois with him. I^ter that night they went to Carol Cline’s home in Matoaka.Mrs. Cline testified that Meadows told her about killing this guy,” but she said on cross examination she didn't take him serious.”The juvenile girl, who said she observed a watch, ring and billfold, on the dashboard of the vehicle Meadows wasIn County Trialdriving, said she later returned to Mrs. Cline’s home withoutShe later reported the incident to Constable Jack Coburn, who turned the case over to the State Police for investigation. Corporal Jimmy Fitzwater conducted the probe.According to testimony, the body was retrieved from New River at the same location as the juvenile described by the Giles County Rescue Squad.On returning to the area, the juvenile found a ring, which the widow of the victim, identified as her husband’s wedding ring.The vehicle in which Meadows, Jenkins and the girl were using allegedly belonged to Little, Knight also said in his opening statement that less than $30” was taken from thevictim.Several state troopers testified yesterday, including a Charleston-based chemist who conducted an analysis of blood stains on Meadows’ clothing. He said the blood was Group 0. He said an analysis of the victim’s blood showed it to be Group 0. _
Newspaper Details
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Bluefield, West Virginia, US
Tue, Aug 13, 1974
Page 2
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