Monica Suzette Hartwell guilty of second-degree murder
Aug. 12—PRINCETON — A Mercer County woman is facing up to 40 years in prison after being found guilty Thursday of second-degree murder in the July 2020 shooting death of a boyfriend she said was possessed.
The trial of Monica Suzette Hartwell, 53, started Wednesday before Circuit Court Judge Derek Swope.
Hartwell was charged with first-degree murder after the July 26, 2020 shooting death of her boyfriend, Michael Walker, outside their Presbyterian Avenue home in Lashmeet.
When troopers with the West Virginia State Police Princeton detachment arrived on the scene, they found Walker on the porch's steps. Hartwell was in the home, and she told them when asked that the shotgun was on the living room couch.
A third person who lived with Hartwell and Walker, Hartwell's former husband Brian W. Smith, testified Thursday about a statement he gave Senior Trooper S.K. Weikle, who investigated with Trooper First Class M.C. Shifflette, about 30 to 45 minutes after the shooting. Prosecuting Attorney Brian Cochran played a recording of that statement for the jury.
Smith said that in the last two hours before the shooting, Hartwell and Walker had started drinking while Walker was "running his mouth all the time. God, Jesus, Holy Spirit. She threatened to do this. I didn't think she was going to do it."
"I heard her say he's demon possess, he's demon possessed ... the county would be a better place if he wasn't here," Smith said.
Smith told investigators that he was outside to get some sun when the shot was fired. Standing near a picnic table, he couldn't see the front door because of foliage. Smith said that when he saw that Walker had been shot, he ran to a neighbor's home and used a cordless phone from Hartwell's house to call 911. Smith testified Wednesday that he had the phone with him because he planned to call and ask for a ride.
One neighbor, Craig Young, testified that he and his fiancé were outside cutting wood for a remodeling project. Hartwell could be seen on the front porch and Walker was sitting on the steps talking loudly. While being questioned by Hartwell's attorney, Ryan Flanigan, Young said Hartwell spoke about demons and that Walker would be leaving. Hartwell usually spoke this way before Walker would go to a hospital. Walker would sign himself into a psychiatric institution every few months.
"And he was talking out of his head?" Flanigan asked.
"Very badly," Young replied.
Young said he spoke to Walker that day and advised him to return to the hospital.
"Whenever he was talking to himself on the steps, it literally seemed like two or three voices were coming out of him," Young said, adding that at one point he thought Hartwell was with Walker, but Walker was talking to himself.
In the state's closing argument, Cochran asked the jurors to look at all the evidence and use their common sense and life experiences when determining a verdict.
"Immediately after the shot, where was Monica?" Cochran asked. "What did she do? Where was she at? It was a small house. She had to have heard the shot. She stayed in the house while everybody in the neighborhood was outside. She knew what had happened."
Hartwell told troopers where to find the shotgun when they arrived, Cochran said. Brian Smith's account of the shooting had stayed consistent.
Flanigan asked Smith on Wednesday if he had shot Walker. Smith said that he was not the shooter. Cochran said in his closing argument that Smith could not have fired the shotgun, put it in the house, then run back outside so quickly. Young testified that he was in his house when the shot was fired, and went outside about 30 seconds later.
In his closing argument, Flanigan said there was no credible evidence showing that Monica Hartwell committed the crime. There were no credible witnesses, no fingerprints on the shotgun and no blood on her clothing. No gunshot residue was found on her hands.
Flanigan said there was reasonable doubt that Hartwell shot Walker, and that it was possible that Smith was the shooter.
"Ladies and gentleman, we just talked to you that there is no evidence," Flanigan said. "At the very least, it's reasonable doubt and as the judge just instructed you, if you find reasonable doubt, the law requires you to find her not guilty."
In a rebuttal, Cochran said that the defense was saying that "Brian Smith must be Superman."
To be the shooter, Smith would have to fire the shotgun outside in front of the neighborhood and in front of Hartwell, get the shotgun into the house, change clothes, then run outside screaming for his neighbor Craig Young, Cochran said. Smith was also the person who first called 911.
"Why would Brian shoot this man right in front of her?" Cochran said. "Does he not expect her to tell the police?"
Jurors started their deliberations about 1:30 p.m. and informed the court an hour later they had reached a verdict.
Hartwell wiped tears away and waved to her family after the jury delivered its verdict. Judge Swope scheduled a motions hearing for September and ordered a presentencing report. Hartwell was remanded to the Southern Regional Jail.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
