Cities     Charleston

Charleston Murder (4 counts), Aggravated Robbery (6 counts), Breaking and Entering, Theft, Drug Dealing (2 counts) and Cruelty to Animals        Overton Wayne Pauley was a member of a drug-dealing gang known as the "Garrison Street Crew," operating in Kanawha County, West Virginia. This gang often replenished its meth and marijuana supply by stealing from other drug dealers.        On May 10, 1998, Pauley cooperated with three other men to stage an armed robbery of drug dealer James Facemeyer and his girlfriend Carolyn Selbe.        In November 1998, Pauley and three other men committed another armed robbery of drug dealer Jason Jarrell.        On December 10, 1998, Pauley and his friend Lonnie Stuckey decided to rob drug dealer Leonard Watts and his girlfriend Christy Alberts, who was nine months pregnant and who had already named her preborn baby girl Ashley Nicole Alberts. After they put on masks, Pauley and Stuckey kicked down the door of Watts' house and found Watts and Christy in the bedroom. They ordered Watts and Christy to go into the living room and lie face down on the floor. Then Christy made the fatal mistake of saying "I know it's you, Wayne, I'm going to get you Wayne, you are going to get in trouble."        Pauley then murdered Watts and Christy execution-style, shooting them in the back of the head, and stole their stash of methamphetamine. He had practiced killing a dog before killing Watts and Christy.        On March 15, 1999, Pauley and three others stole eleven firearms from the residence of another drug dealer.        Pauley was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, as well as several other crimes, and the district court found that he was responsible for distribution a quantity of drugs equivalent to half a ton of marijuana.        In May 2000, he was found guilty of two counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.        Stuckey was also charged with two counts of murder. Reference:  United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. State of West Virginia v. Overton Wayne Pauley, No. 00-4359, denial of appeal, argued January 25, 2002, decided April 22. 2002. First-Degree Murder (3 counts)        According to police and prosecution documents and witness testimony, the following events occurred in and around Charleston, West Virginia.        35-year-old teacher James Louis DeGasperin lived with his 25-year-old girlfriend Lori Casteel, who was six months pregnant, and their little son, four-year-old Collin Casteel. Lori had already named her little preborn girl Angelina, and Collin told everyone how excited he was to be a big brother.        But he would never get the chance to play with his little sister or help care for her.        On April 14, 2007, DeGasperin repeatedly hit Lori over the head with a baseball bat, killing her. Then he shot little Collin in the chest with a shotgun and, to make completely certain he was dead, crushed his skull with the baseball bat. He then piled their bodies into a Ford Explorer and parked it not far from where he lived. Terry Knotts, an acquiantance of DeGasperin's told police that he had approached him soon after killing Lori and Collin, confessed to the murders, and asked for Knotts' help in disposing of the bodies. Instead of helping, Knotts called police.        In August 2007, DeGasperin was indicted on three charges of first-degree murder, because West Virginia passed Senate Bill 146, its Unborn Victims of Violence Act in 2005. The police report said that Lori and her little Collin had died from "blunt force trauma to the head." References:  Tom Searles. "Preston Man Arrested in Bludgeoning Deaths." Charleston Gazette, April 17, 2007; James I. Davison. "Preston Man to Face Third Murder Charge." Charleston Gazette, April 27, 2007; Steven Ertelt. "West Virginia Man Indicted for Killing Pregnant Girlfriend, Unborn Child." LifeNews.com, August 30, 2007. To return to the introductory document, click here. To go to the Index for the pro-abortion violence database, click here. This document was updated on December 1, 2007.