The case against a man charged with first-degree murder will move on to Monongalia County Circuit Court and be presented to a grand jury.
Michael Corney is accused of shooting and killing Chadwick Malone on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Pietro Street, on Sept. 23. Corney was arrested on Oct. 13 in a traffic stop.
Magistrate Ron Bane found probable cause to move the case forward at a preliminary hearing on Friday.
Defense attorney Brandon Shumaker asked Bane to set bond for Corney, who is being held in North Central Regional Jail and appeared at the hearing by video. However, Bane was unable to do so because magistrates are not empowered to set bond in cases where the maximum penalty is life in prison.
Corney’s wife told police he did not leave the car with a gun but came back and got it, Detective Ben Forsythe of the Morgantown Police Department testified.
Two shell casings were found at the scene but the murder weapon has not been recovered, he said.
Another witness, who said she was longtime friends with Corney, identified him, Forsythe said. A second witness was not able to identify Corney but gave a description that matched him.
None of the witnesses saw a fight, argument or “fisticuffs” prior to the shooting, Forsythe said.
Shumaker asked Forsythe what his investigation showed and Monongalia County Prosecutor Perri DeChristopher objected because the question was outside the scope of the hearing.
DeChristopher said premeditation, a requirement for first-degree murder, was shown by the fact that Corney went back to his car for the gun and there was no “fight, argument or fisticuffs” with Malone.
Bane agreed and told Shumaker to move on.
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