The Cumberland Times News reports a Morgan County man will spend the rest of his life in jail after he was sentenced Thursday for the 2016 shooting deaths of three men near Great Cacapon.
Erick David Shute received three life sentences without the possibility of parole, according to Dan James, Morgan County’s prosecuting attorney.
Shute was convicted in July of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jack Douglas, 49, of Great Cacapon, William Bartley, 49, and Bartley’s son, Travis Bartley, 24, both of Hedgesville.
He was also found guilty of attempted murder of Terry Lee Marks.
The apparent result of a property dispute, Shute used a rifle to shoot the men on June 13, 2016, investigators said.
Shute was also sentenced to 3 to 15 years for the conviction of attempted murder, five years for wanton endangerment involving a firearm and 10 years for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Family members of the victims addressed the court and asked that Shute be sentenced to the maximum permitted sentence, James said.
Shute told the court that the shootings were self-defense.
The court also ordered that Shute pay burial expenses.
New counsel will be appointed for the appeal, James said.
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