Background: A section of the 200 block of Hickory Grove Road in Lesage, West Virginia (Google Maps). Inset: Joshua Deel (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A man in West Virginia killed his ex-wife and her two children after an argument and then claimed an "unknown" person committed the grisly crimes, authorities say.
Joshua Deel, 39, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 39-year-old Shawn Deel, 18-year-old Abigale Sloan, and 16-year-old Dekota Sloan, the Cabell County Sheriff's Office announced. The defendant was booked into the Western Regional Jail ahead of an arraignment.
Deputies said that on Tuesday just before 5 a.m., they were called to the 200 block of Hickory Grove Road in Lesage, West Virginia, about a stabbing. The census-designated area is in the western part of the state, right on the border with Ohio.
Arriving officers found the bodies of the three victims, who appeared to have been stabbed. A fourth person — Joshua Deel — was brought to a local hospital "for injuries of what appeared to be superficial wounds."
According to a criminal complaint obtained by regional NBC affiliate WSAZ, the suspect had been "laying face down in the living room near the front door, covered in blood." The scene itself was said to be "chaotic with blood everywhere throughout the residence."
Investigators reportedly said Shawn Deel and her two children were still living with the defendant when they were stabbed, though the couple was not still married.
As law enforcement officers accompanied Joshua Deel to the hospital, they apparently got a call from dispatchers to head back to the scene. Investigators indeed returned, and witnesses allegedly told them they had been getting ready for work that morning when they heard the suspect screaming curses at a woman.
The witnesses could hear the woman too, until her noises "slowly decreased" and "ultimately became quiet," per the criminal complaint. When deputies spoke with Joshua Deel, he apparently made inconsistent statements and maintained that an "unknown masked subject" had left the home that day.
Investigators claim Joshua Deel and one of the victims got into an argument on Monday night. The defendant allegedly admitted to placing his phone under one of their bedroom doors and trying to take photos of them, before one of them confronted him. He reportedly said, "It's not going to happen again."
Joshua Deel was arrested after being released from the hospital. He is set to appear in court on July 30.
Comments