Feud led to alleged shooting in Springhill Twp.
State police said an ongoing feud between two men arising from a triple murder in West Virginia may have led to a shooting Monday in Greene County.
Police allege that David Riley shot Jimmy William Spencer in self defense around 1:50 p.m. Monday inside Riley’s home on 498 Morford Road in Springhill Township. Police charged Spencer alleging that Spencer came to Riley’s home intent upon intimidating him and assaulting him for providing information to police in West Virginia about a 2014 triple murder in which Spencer’s son was involved.
“There (have) been ongoing problems between the victim and the Spencers,” said Trooper Daniel Barnhart, state police, wrote in the criminal complaint.
According to the complaint, Jimmy Spencer went to Riley’s home around 1:50 p.m. Monday on 498 Morford Rd. in Springhill Township. Spencer knocked on the front door of Riley’s home so hard that it caused the door frame to splinter and break, the complaint said. He was looking for Riley, police said.
As Riley called Greene County 911, Spencer picked up a large metal crow bar nearby and allegedly used it to pry the door open into the home, police said.
Police allege Spencer approached Riley with the crow bar and began banging it on the floor and threatening him.
The complaint said when Riley told Spencer to back off, Spencer swung the crow bar to hit Riley above his right eye.
Police allege that Spencer took a screw driver out of his pocket and continued to threaten Riley.
The complaint said when Riley retreated to a bedroom, Spencer followed him.
Police said that’s when Riley shot Spencer once with a handgun that he routinely carried in a holster at his side. Spencer collapsed onto a couch, the complaint said.
Spencer was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where he remains in serious condition.
According to court records, an arrest warrant has been issued for Spencer, 52, who has been charged with burglary, aggravated assault, retaliation against victim or witness and two counts of simple assault.
The Spencer family and Riley’s paths have crossed in the past.
Riley reportedly told police about Jimmy Spencer’s son, Samuel Spencer, confessed to him that he killed three people in January 2014 in Littleton, W.Va.
Samuel L. Spencer, 25, and Natasha L. Burns, 26, both of Wind Ridge in Richhill Township, were arrested July 21, 2014 for their alleged involvement in a triple killing.
State police in West Virginia alleged Spencer told another man, “I told you I would get them back” the night that Michael McDougal, 63, Carmen McDougal, 55, and Jimmy Kisner, 48, were killed. Police in Littleton were called to the McDougals’ home on Cliff Run Road on Jan. 14, 2014 where they found the home fully engulfed in flames, according to police.
Kisner, of Aleppo in Greene County, was staying at the home, police said.
Authorities believe that Samuel Spencer and Burns stabbed Kisner and the McDougals, and then set fire to the home in an attempt to cover up the killings. Both were charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
In a complaint, police allege that the night of the killings, Samuel Spencer went to the home of Dave Riley to clean a cut on his hand. While he was there, Samuel Spencer reportedly told Riley that he said he got back at the McDougals and Kisner, police wrote.
Riley reportedly asked Samuel Spencer what he meant, and he “confessed in detail how he just killed all three of the victims,” police wrote in the complaint.
“Mr. Riley stated Samuel Spencer told him the only regret he has was that his girlfriend, Natasha Burns, had to witness the killings. Natasha Burns provided transportation to and from the victims’ residence,” police wrote.
According to the Wetzel County Clerk of Courts, Samuel Spencer pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in February 2014. He was sentenced to 40 years for each charge to be served concurrently.
Burns pleaded no contest to obstruction of law enforcement in February 2014 and was sentenced to 215 days in prison, according to the Wetzel County Clerk of Court.