The front page of The Parkersburg News from November 21, 1979, with a story about the murder of Charles Morgan Marsh. William Wickline Jr. was indicted for the murder in 1985 in Wood County, but was never tried because he was executed in Ohio.

PARKERSBURG — Today will mark the 45th anniversary of one of the region’s most sensational murders.

The decapitated body of Charles Morgan “Marshy” Marsh, 34, of South Carolina, was found on November 20, 1979 by his girlfriend at a residence on Dry Run Road, setting off an investigation that investigated numerous tips, clues, connections and coincidences, but he found nothing until the informants were years old. later revealed how William Wickline Jr. killed the Vietnam War veteran, investigators said.

Bob Newell, a former Parkersburg police chief who was a detective at the time, and detectives Tom Dent and Mike Spellacy were investigating other crimes they believed were related to the Marsh murder, including a robbery in which the victim was handcuffed behind the back. Marsh was also found handcuffed behind the back, leading police to believe the murder was related to the robbery, which was drug-related.

“Two people handcuffed within a week of each other”, Newell said. “That hasn’t happened here before.”

The cases are unrelated, he said.

Investigators from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and West Virginia State Police at a residence on Dry Run Road where the body of Charles Morgan “Swampy” Marsh was found. Marsh was tortured for information about drugs and money, then beheaded.

The initial investigation into the Marsh crime was handled by the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and West Virginia State Police. All parties later agreed that Parkersburg police would assist because they investigated most of the homicides and other serious crimes in the region, and the Marsh slaying may have had ties to other investigations, Newell said.

Spellacy and Newell were sent to the Marsh residence, where Spellacy searched for fingerprints, of which Spellacy was an expert.

“I found nothing” Newell said.

All leads ended in dead ends, Newell said. State police months later began their own investigation but found nothing, he said.

A few years later, Columbus detectives were questioning two women in an unrelated drug-trafficking investigation, Newell said. With immunity from prosecution, they recounted how they accompanied Wickline to Marsh’s residence, Newell said.

During this time, Wickline, who learned how to butcher meat in prison, was charged in 1984 with the 1979 murders of Christopher and Peggy Lerch whose bodies were never found. Wickline was sentenced to death in September 1985, and the sentence was carried out by lethal injection in March 2004 at the Lucasville penitentiary.

Former Wood County Prosecutor Harry Deitzler went to the Marsh residence in 1979. Prosecutors are notified and go to the scene when a body is found, each calling in turn, he said.

Deputies and paramedics were standing around the bed where Marsh’s body was when Deitzler arrived. Deputy Charlie Johnson received the initial call shortly after noon, Deitzler said.

Debbie Hannah, a friend of Marsh’s, discovered the body when she went home for lunch.

The investigation determined that Wickline and Marsh knew each other through drug deals, Deitzler said. Wickline was accompanied to Parkersburg by two women who waited for him while he was at Marsh’s, Deitzler said.

Wickline handcuffed Marsh and tied his legs with a telephone cord, then proceeded to torture him for several hours before killing him, Detizler said.

Years later, after all local leads failed to produce a killer, Newell received a call from a Columbus detective who, through other investigations, had information about the Marsh murder, Deitzler said. Newell directed them to State Police Troopers Bill Rectenwald and KO Adkins.

Wickline’s girlfriend, Lawanna “Pixie” Norton and her friend, Debbie Dills, were being questioned as part of a federal drug investigation, Newell said. The two women, accessories before and after the fact, recounted Wickline’s participation in the Marsh murder, Newell said.

Columbus homicide detectives were investigating Lerch’s murders, Rectenwald said.

“(Norton) ended up giving up on Wickline because he killed these people,” he said.

Wickline told a fellow inmate about how he was involved in a murder in West Virginia, handcuffing, tying and torturing the victim, Deitzler said.

Norton also said Wickline cut off a man’s head, Rectenwald said. Ohio investigators were unsure of the information, believing she might be saying things to go easy on her, according to Rectenwald.

“They weren’t sure if he was telling the truth,” Rectenwald said.

Authorities in Columbus called Newell and asked if they had a beheading murder, to which Newell said there had been, and notified the state police in Columbus of the information.

The state police report also found that Tory James Gainer, a bookie from Marietta, and Wickline conspired to have Marsh killed in order to recover money and narcotics, Deitzler said. Wickline tortured Marsh to get information about money and drugs, Deitzler said.

The report also indicates Wickline was trying to get the girlfriend’s location, Deitzler said.

Wickline did not find the money or drugs, but local investigators found $30,000 under the mattress where Marsh was found, Deitzler said.

Wickline left the residence in Marsh’s truck, abandoning her in Williamstown, Rectenwald said. Norton was staying at a motel in Williamstown and was contacted by Wickline to meet him on the road, Rectenwald said.

Gainer was killed by Wickline the following February on a contract from a Columbus man who ran a gambling operation, Newell said. Norton was present when Gainer was killed, Newell said.

Wickline was never charged with Gainer’s murder.

She described how Gainer was dismembered by Wickline and took Gainer’s car to the Columbus airport, where it was put into long-term parking, Rectenwald said. The vehicle was recovered by police, a fact she was unaware of, he said.

The woman had details that led investigators to believe she was telling the truth, Rectenwald said.

An hour before Marsh was killed, Newell and Dent, who later became police chief, were near Ollies’ nightclub, where the owner had called in about an incident with Gainer, Newell said. A loaded shotgun with a 30-round clip was found in Gainer’s car and he was charged with a weapons violation, Newell said.

Newell said he always wondered why Gainer had the rifle, then realized years later that it was out of concern for his safety because of the upcoming hit on Marsh.

Gainer, who ran a gambling operation in Marietta, failed to show up for a hearing in federal court in Columbus in 1980 and was never seen again, Newell said.

“He was already dead at that point” Newell said.

Wickline, who was in prison in Ohio, was charged in April 1985 in Wood County with Marsh’s murder, but never went to trial.

The state of West Virginia proceeded with the extradition, and Wickline waived his rights to a speedy trial, Deitzler said. There is uncertainty that Wickline will remain in custody, Deitzler said.

When Wickline’s defense learned West Virginia would proceed with the charges and extradition, Wickline waived his right to a speedy trial and West Virginia would instead delay extradition, Deitzler said.

Otherwise, Wickline would have walked free if the Ohio charges had been reversed, and West Virginia would have been powerless to prosecute because it had not waived its right to a speedy trial, Deitzler said.