Suspect in kidnapping waives time limit on preliminary hearing
Jan. 11—PRINCETON — A McDowell County man is facing the possibilty of life in prison after being charged with kidnapping and multiple other felonies connected to the alleged abduction of a woman in late December 2022.
Robert David Hairston, 51, of Kimball was scheduled Tuesday for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Susan Honaker before he waived the hearing's time limit. Under West Virginia law, jailed people must have a preliminary hearing within 10 days of their arrests unless they choose to waive this time limit or waive the hearing entirely and let their case go forward to the grand jury.
Hairston has been charged with kidnapping, six counts of malicious assault, six counts of assault during the commission of a felony, four counts of first-degree sexual abuse, attempt to commit sexual assault and conspiracy, according to the criminal complaint.
The case began Dec. 27, 2022, when a woman met Hairston at an Oakvale Road convenience store on Stafford Drive in Princeton, according to Cpl. B.J. Garretson of the West Virginia State Police detachment in Princeton.
"The victim was enticed and fraudulently misled by Mr. Hairston into thinking that he would give her a ride to North Carolina to a friend's funeral," Garretson said. Another woman " who she did not know very well, but they stated that they knew the victim's deceased friend and wanted to go to the funeral as well."
The victim said that the trip started with Hairston driving, and he stated that "he had to run a few errands and that they would travel to North Carolina after the errands were completed," Garretson said in the criminal complaint. These errands continued throughout the day and at about 4:30 p.m. Hairston dropped off the woman at her job in a Princeton motel, showing that there was no plan for going to North Carolina "and was preplanned or conspired tog get (victim) alone with the defendant under false pretenses."
Garretson stated in the complaint that after the other woman had been dropped off, Hairston "started to become irate and verbally abusive toward her" after she asked him about going to the funeral in North Carolina. She stated that she was forced to ride with him from late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and took her to a trailer in an area she did not know, then accused her of being an informant and made her take off her clothes looking for a "wire."
The victim stated that Hairston sexually abused her and repeatedly threatened her life and threatened to sexually assault her, and that this continued throughout the day before being forced back into his vehicle and driven to a relative's home in Princeton. She stated that he had been "drinking alcohol and taking street drugs the whole time he had her" before he passed out in a bedroom.
After Hairston passed out, she used his unlocked cellphone to get on his Facebook account and send a message to a friend asking for help. She then left the home and walked along a road until her friend picked her up and took her home, Garretson stated in the criminal complaint. She came to the Princeton detachment on Dec. 31, 2022 and spoke with Garretson.
"This Trooper visually observed the victim's bruises on her face, eyes, behind her ear and legs and obtained photographs," he said. Her friend showed Garretson the messages she had sent to him pleading for help, "stating he wouldn't let her go and had beaten her." The messages were timestamped for Dec. 29, 2022.
Hairston is being held at the Southern Regional Jail in lieu of a $250,000 cash or surety bond.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Polk represented the state, and attorney Brandon Austin represented Hairston.
Kidnapping has a possible sentence of life in prison, according to the West Virginia Code. If a jury recommends mercy and this is granted, a defendant would be eligible for parole after serving 15 years of the sentence, but parole is not guaranteed.
First-degree sexual assault has a sentence of 15 to 35 years in prison. Attempt to commit sexual assault has a possible sentence of one to three years. Malicious assault has a possible sentence to two to 10 years in prison. First-degree sexual abuse has a prison term of one to five years. Assault during the commission of a felony has a sentence of two to 10 years, according to the West Virginia Code.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
