Two charged with brutal murder of SRJ inmate in 2022

Jun. 7—Before dying in his cell at Southern Regional Jail in October 2022, 79-year-old Douglas Alan Cunningham had his ribs broken from being jumped on, was spit on, urinated on, punched in the face, kicked in the torso multiple times and sexually assaulted.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Raleigh County Magistrate Court, the acts were carried out by Cunningham's former cellmates Lucas Mathew Wagnar, 28, and Isaiah Marshall McBride, 27, who have been charged with his murder.

McBride was arrested Wednesday and booked into Southern Regional Jail (SRJ) at 2:15 a.m. Wagnar was already in SRJ serving time on an unrelated sentence. Both are being held without bond.

Cunningham's wife Linda said she was informed of the charges on Wednesday by the Raleigh County prosecuting attorney's office.

She said she still doesn't understand why her husband was attacked but is happy that those responsible are being charged with his murder.

"I'm overwhelmed," Linda said. "I didn't realize there was such cruel people like that in the world."

Raleigh County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield said the reason it took roughly seven months to charge McBride and Wagnar for Cunningham's death was because he was waiting on a full report from the state medical examiner's office.

"Unfortunately, while a lot of people would assume that that's a quick process, in West Virginia, the average wait for an autopsy or a (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) report is somewhere between six to nine months," Hatfield said. "So unfortunately, we just had to wait till we got the medical examiner's report. And once we got that we were able to use it in conjunction with the remainder of the investigation to make the appropriate charging decision."

Hatfield said McBride and Wagnar have been charged under the state code that relates to crimes committed by inmates, which carries steeper penalties.

"It's basically an umbrella section for offenses committed by inmates so that offenses that might otherwise be classified as misdemeanors, if charged under that section can be charged as felony as offenses committed by inmates," he said. "That's what these offenses were charged under."

If the offense committed by an inmate results in the death of someone, as alleged in this case, the penalty for that crime, if convicted, is life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to state code 62-8-2.

All other offenses charged under this section carry a sentence of one to five years.

Hatfield said he hopes these harsher penalties will "act as a deterrent effect against committing criminal offenses while incarcerated."

According to the complaint, Cunningham was killed on Oct. 29, 2022, while in a cell at SRJ with four other inmates. Cunningham's death certificate from the State Medical Examiner's Office said he was pronounced dead at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital at 3:44 p.m.

Three days after Cunningham's death, West Virginia State Trooper Sgt. D.A. Miller, who compiled the report contained in the criminal complaint, received word from the State Medical Examiner's Office about "concerns after performing the autopsy."

Miller said the medical examiner found "several fresh bruises on (Cunningham's) face and chest." He also had "broken ribs near his back that were not consistent with CPR or life saving efforts."

After speaking with the medical examiner, Miller went to SRJ to interview Cunningham's four cell mates who were present at the time of his death.

According to accounts from the inmates, detailed in the criminal complaint, McBride and Wagnar allegedly began their assault on Cunningham around breakfast time on Oct. 29 after Cunningham was brought into the cell "in a wheelchair and placed in the floor."

McBride and Wagnar then allegedly spit and urinated on Cunningham and called him a child molester. The complaint does not state why McBride and Wagnar made this assumption about Cunningham, who was booked into SRJ on a capias warrant.

A cell mate not involved in the attack said McBride then struck Cunningham with "a closed fist in the side of the face, near his temple."

McBride did admit to the investigating state trooper to striking Cunningham in the face because Cunningham touched McBride's "junk," but said this was the only time he struck Cunningham and it was an "open hand strike."

However, accounts from the three other inmates detailed in the complaint say otherwise.

After McBride's first punch, the complaint states Cunningham called McBride and Wagnar a "son of a bitch." In response to this, Wagnar allegedly said, "My mom ain't no bitch," and then kicked Cunningham in the groin.

According to inmate interviews in the complaint, after this initial altercation everything "calmed down" for about 15-20 minutes and then McBride and Wagnar continued their assault.

This time McBride hit Cunningham in the back near his kidneys with a closed first and Wagnar sexually assaulted Cunningham with a spoon.

Around this time, the complaint states that lunch was being served but McBride and Wagnar took Cunningham's and another cell mate's lunch tray so they could not eat.

Wagnar then allegedly looked out the cell door and said, "Yeah, the (correction officers) ain't in here now, we'll fucking kill you," before stomping on Cunningham's chest six to eight times.

Wagnar then climbed onto the top bunk in the cell and jumped onto Cunningham's left side with "both feet," the complaint states.

Cunningham's other cell mates told the state trooper they heard a "pop and crunching sound" when Wagnar jumped on Cunningham, and it was obvious that Cunningham "was in pain."

After this, the complaint states that it was around 2 p.m. and the cell mates all went to sleep. About an hour later, one of the inmates not involved in the attack woke up McBride and said that he thought Cunningham was dead and that, "I think ya'll killed him."

Wagnar was also woken up. In their interview with the state trooper, McBride and Wagnar both described Cunningham's appearance, at this point around 3 p.m., as blue and cold to the touch. Wagnar also said he checked Cunningham for a pulse but there was none.

Wagnar then allegedly called for help using a call box inside the cell.

In Wagnar's interview with state police, he said it was McBride who beat Cunningham and called him a child molester. Wagnar also stated that he never touched Cunningham and instead told McBride not to hurt him because they did not know if Cunningham was actually a child molester.

When asked by the state trooper if Cunningham was able to fight back during this incident, Wagnar said, "No, he was not," according to the complaint.

In the interview with McBride, other than admitting to hitting Cunningham one time, McBride told the state trooper he was not sure what all happened. However, he "thought" Wagnar jumped on Cunningham "or something," but he "was not sure because he was not paying attention," the complaint states.

McBride also said that Wagnar had it out for Cunningham and was "wanting to catch a body," because he'd recently been given bad news and didn't have anything to live for outside of jail.

In the death certificate, obtained by The Register-Herald in April, the State Medical Examiner's Office wrote that Cunningham was assaulted and suffered injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, which contributed to his death; however, his cause of death is listed as coronary artery disease.

Homicide is listed as the "final manner of death" on the death certificate.

As a result of Cunningham's as well as more than a dozen other deaths in the past two years and other allegations of inhumane treatment of inmates at SRJ, the state is facing a federal class action lawsuit.

Email: jmoore@register-herald.com