Oscar Combs Sr murder conviction overturned for new trial
Jun. 3—BLUEFIELD — A man serving life sentences for two separate murders will have a new trial after the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed the conviction and sentencing orders for one of them.
Oscar Ross Combs Sr. was convicted on Sept. 29, 2017 in Wyoming County Circuit Court of first-degree murder in the death of 38-year-old Teresa Lynn Ford, who disappeared on May 13, 2013.
On that day, Ford told a friend that she was going to meet Combs and sell him her van. In the days after Ford disappeared, Combs Sr. was seen driving her van. He later sold the vehicle to a used car dealer, according to court documents.
Combs Sr. was sentenced to life in prison without mercy on April 11, 2018. People sentenced to life without mercy are never eligible for parole.
In 2013, Combs Sr. became a suspect in the April 2011 murder of James "Bo" Butler in Mercer County. Based on information provided by his son, Oscar Ross Combs Jr., "Junior," police executed a search warrant on his property on Nov. 11, 2013, according to court documents. During the search a large blood stain was found on Combs Sr.'s mattress.
"Subsequent forensic testing determined that the blood belonged to Ms. Ford.
On the day the police executed the search warrant, they also interviewed the petitioner (Combs Sr.) again, and he confessed that he and Junior had robbed and killed Mr. Butler," according to the court document.
Bulter, a resident of Summers County, was shot execution-style in the back of his head along Route 10 at Herndon Mountain in Mercer County. Robbery was the motive behind the shooting. Butler's body was found several weeks after the murder on Crumpler Road in Wyoming County, several miles from the Mercer-Wyoming line. Butler was known to regularly commute through Mercer County.
In April 2014, the police obtained another warrant to conduct a broader search of the Combs home and the surrounding property.
During this search, skeletal remains were discovered in a shallow grave, according to court documents.
The remains were later identified as those of Teresa Lynn Ford.
Combs Sr., was tried for Butler's murder in February 2015. A Mercer County jury convicted him of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and conspiracy.
He is now serving a life sentence plus 80 years for that crime.
The Wyoming County Grand Jury indicted Combs Sr., on May 4, 2015 on charges of murdering Ford, and the trial started on Sept. 18, 2017.
During the nine-day trial in Wyoming County Circuit Court, the State was allowed to introduce evidence about the Butler case and how the Mercer County jury convicted Combs Sr.
"Specifically, the trial court allowed the petitioner's Mercer County conviction order to be read to the jury and permitted three witnesses, including Junior, to testify about the facts surrounding Mr. Butler's death," according to the supreme court document. "In addition, the State played the petitioner's recorded statement to the police for the jury, during which he indicated that he was going to take a polygraph and then changed his mind. Although 40 witnesses testified on behalf of the State, the exact cause of Ms. Ford's death was never established due to the condition of her remains. At the end of the trial, the petitioner was convicted by the jury of first-degree murder without a recommendation of mercy."
The state supreme court ruled that the information about the Butler case and conviction of Combs Sr., in Mercer County for first-degree murder should not have been presented to the Wyoming County jury, according to the court document.
While the court recognized "in theory" that when "a defendant commits a series of crimes which bear a unique pattern such that the modus operandi is so unusual it becomes like a signature, then evidence of other crimes may be admissible," according to the court document.
It was argued that the murders of Butler and Ford were different. Butler's murder was done with an accomplice, Combs Jr., and the "State did not alleged that the petitioner (Combs Sr.) had an accomplice in Ms. Ford's murder." Other factors such as manner of death were different because "while Mr. Butler was shot, the exact cause of Ms. Ford's death was never established. Finally, the petitioner notes that the murders occurred more than two years apart," according to the court document.
The state Supreme Court determined that Combs Sr. did not receive a fair trial. His conviction and sentencing orders were reversed, and the case was remanded to the Wyoming County Circuit Court for a new trial.
Oscar Ross Combs Jr. pleaded guilty in November 2014 for his role in murder of Butler. Combs Jr. testified during the trial of his father, Combs Sr., that he shot Butler in the back of the head when his father told him to do so. He was sentenced to life in prison with mercy and 25 years for armed robbery first degree.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
