ARCHBOLD WEATHER

Hughes, Freeman Await Nov. 1 Hearing





David Hughes

David Hughes

David Hughes, 58, and Charles Freeman, 51, two of three men charged with the murder of two West Virginia women, await Nov. 1 hearings in separate jails.

Hughes was arrested in Archbold at his home in the Fairlawn Apartments about 12:20 am, Thursday, Sept. 19.

He had lived in the Fairlawn complex for about a year.

Hughes was arrested by Archbold police, with assistance from Wauseon police and Fulton County Sheriff deputies. He did not resist.

Freeman was arrested in Napoleon later the same day. After originally refusing to come out of the apartment where he was found, he eventually came out and went quietly.

As of Tuesday, Oct. 22, Hughes was being held in the West Virginia Central Regional Jail. Freeman was incarcerated at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

Hughes and Freeman were held at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio until they were extradited back to West Virginia.

Sheriff deputies from West Virginia picked up the two men, Wednesday, Oct 2, and drove them back by car.

Charles Freeman

Charles Freeman

Third Man

The third man, Joseph Metz, 39, who was arrested in West Virginia, is being held at the North Central Regional Jail.

All three are held on the same charges: two counts each of kidnapping, robbery, and murder.

The two victims in the case are identified as Maxine Stalnaker and her daughter, Mary Friend. They were reported missing Dec. 1, 1999.

Stalnaker is the grandmother, and Friend, the mother, of Metz.

The bodies of the two women have never been found.

Sheriff

Adam Gissy, sheriff of Lewis County, W.Va., said his department received a tip in what had become a cold case.

Deputies began “going through the case files over and over again.

“We conducted additional interviews, and found inconsistencies” in the stories of those involved, Gissy said.

Eventually, deputies were able to put together a case against the trio.

Gissy said two deputies made two trips to Ohio to conduct interviews. Hughes was interviewed during a visit to West Virginia.

Motive

Michael Smith, prosecuting attorney for Lewis County, said in a previous Buckeye article the three men– Hughes, Freeman, and Metz– were allegedly involved in a criminal enterprise.

The complaint against the three states the women had incriminating information about that criminal enterprise written on a paper tablet, kept in one of their purses.

The complaint alleges Hughes ordered Freemen and Metz to kidnap Stalnaker and Friend, retrieve the tablet, and then kill them.

Friend’s car was found in neighboring Harrison County, W.Va.

A fisherman found a purse in a Lewis County lake in 2002, but there was no tablet inside.

Goal

Gissy said he and his staff are excited about bringing charges in the formerly cold case.

“We want to continue to follow this up, with the ultimate goal of getting a conviction,” he said.

The three are currently being held without bond.


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