1/26/11 Stutzman transported to Wayne County jail

  • January 26, 2011
  • 349
                        
A man suspected in the grisly murder of his parents came home to Wayne County Tuesday/Jan. 25 in sheriff’s custody. Rodney Stutzman, 32, 17559 Harrison, Navarre, was transported via a warrant from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W. Va., to the Wayne County jail where he is being held on a $2 million cash bond. He was arraigned Wednesday in Wayne County Municipal Court on two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary in the murder of his parents, Mervin and Viola Stutzman. Municipal Court Judge Carol White Millhoan referred Stutzman’s case to the public defender’s office. Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Hunter Wednesday described the trip with Stutzman back to Wayne County as “quiet” and said the transfer was completed without difficulty. Stutzman was not made aware of when he would be picked up for security reasons, Hunter said. “It is common, accepted procedure not to announce to incarcerated subjects when they are to be transferred from one facility to another,” Hunter said. Stutzman is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 2 in Millhoan’s court. At a preliminary hearing, the state must prevent proof that the Stutzmans were murdered, and that Rodney Stutzman is the most likely suspect in the murders. However, the hearing will not be held if charges are presented to the grand jury first, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Lutz said. “Either he’ll go through the preliminary hearing or it will go to the grand jury for consideration and he will be indicted,” Lutz said. “When a case is brought to grand jury, there is always the possibility there will be additional charges.” The Stutzmans were found dead in the basement of their Harrison Road home Jan. 14, the victims of gunshot wounds to the head. They were last scene alive Jan. 9. Rodney Stutzman was arrested in West Virginia Jan. 14 in a traffic stop. The aggravated murder charges are unclassified felonies. The aggravated burglary charge is a first degree felony, carrying up to 10 years in prison.


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