Advertisement

Man charged with burning symbol on woman's grave

September 03, 2003|by CANDICE BOSELY

martinsburg@herald-mail.com

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg man was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he burned a symbol on a woman's grave and then shot her tombstone more than a dozen times, according to police.

Jeffrey Lee Hull, 38, of 152 Baron Drive, was charged with arson, wanton endangerment with a firearm and destruction of property. He also was charged with armed robbery and domestic battery, charges that stem from a separate incident.

The Rosedale Cemetery grave site was vandalized on May 21, police said. A pentagram symbol was burned into the grass at a woman's burial site, according to police.

Advertisement

The endangerment charge is related to the shots fired at the tombstone, which endangered the lives of the people who live in a large, nearby housing development, said West Virginia State Police Trooper John Droppleman.

At the cemetery, Droppleman found several 9 mm shell casings and the insignia from a 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which police believe was torn off when an Oldsmobile was damaged when entering the cemetery, according to court records.

One of Hull's family members told police that the woman whose grave site was damaged had been their neighbor and that Hull had been infatuated with her, records say.

Hull was previously arrested on July 8 after leading police on a chase along Interstate 81 into Maryland.

Police allege that a day earlier, Hull wielded a 9 mm gun, pushed his 72-year-old mother to the ground and took $35 from her.

He then went to the state police office on Edwin Miller Boulevard and hit a police cruiser with a gun, scuffing the car, police alleged.

After leading police on the pursuit - during which speeds reached 110 mph - Hull yelled for officers to shoot him, police previously alleged.

Hull was being held in Eastern Regional Jail on $61,500 bond, according to a spokesman. If he posts bond, one of the conditions is that he not abuse his mother, records show.

The Herald-Mail Articles
|
|
|