2 men charged with killing cellmate in West Virginia jail
West Virginia authorities have charged two men with killing a fellow inmate at Southern Regional Jail.
Lucas Mathew Wagnar, 28, and Isaiah Marshall McBride, 27, have been charged with murder in the death of Douglas Alan Cunningham, 79, The Register-Herald reported, citing a criminal complaint filed in Raleigh County Magistrate Court.
The men were cellmates with Cunningham, who died in October 2022 after a beating that included being punched, kicked and jumped on, the complaint said.
McBride was arrested Wednesday and booked into Southern Regional Jail while Wagnar was already incarcerated at the facility on an unrelated charge, the newspaper reported.
Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said he waited on a full report from the state medical examiner's office before pursuing charges in the case.
The death certificate, obtained by The Register-Herald, said the assault on Cunningham injured his head, chest and abdomen and contributed to his death, but lists the cause of death as coronary artery disease. The manner of death is listed as homicide.
