WELCH, W.Va. (AP) - An attorney says her client fatally shot two Iaeger men in self-defense and then burned their bodies because he was panicking and had been drinking.
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that 43-year-old Donald S. Bailey, of Crumpler, is on trial for first-degree murder in connection with the October 2014 deaths of 21-year-old Brandon Church and 46-year-old Clinton Mullins.
Authorities found their bodies in a burned vehicle while responding to a report of a wreck and vehicle fire in McDowell County.
Defense attorney Lacy Wright said during opening statements Wednesday that Mullins had earlier pointed a gun at Bailey after hours of drinking. She says the two men were harassing Bailey's teenage daughters and Bailey shot the men because he felt threatened.
Bailey's wife and another man are accused of helping Bailey burn the bodies. Their trials have not yet started.