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Parkersburg man charged with father’s murder testifies at trial

Closing arguments expected today

By Evan Bevins 3 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Taking the stand Wednesday on the third day of his murder trial, James Thomas Hendershot denied harming his father and claimed he remembers little about the days and events surrounding the older man's death.

"Did you hit your father?" Assistant Public Defender Reggie Bailey asked his client.

"No," Hendershot replied.

"Did you hurt or injure your father?" Bailey said.

"No," Hendershot said.

"I have no other questions," Bailey said.

The 38-year-old Hendershot faces charges of second-degree murder and concealing a deceased human body. He was arrested in January 2018 after the body of his father, James C. Hendershot, was discovered by a family member who came to the house in the 3600 block of Liberty Street in Parkersburg after relatives could not reach him by phone for several days.

The trial is being held in City Council chambers on the second floor of the Parkersburg Municipal Building so social-distancing measures can be observed. Members of the jury were spread out in the section of seats on the right side of the chambers facing the council dais.

Hendershot was the only witness called by the defense.

On cross-examination, Hendershot testified that he did not get along with his father and tried to avoid him, even though they lived in the same house. He said he was closer to his mother, who was hospitalized at the time.

Assistant Wood County Prosecutor Heather Nicholson asked Hendershot if he remembered telling police he'd been fighting with his father or that he'd hit him.

"I don't recall saying anything," Hendershot said. "I never went in (the house) with them. I stayed outside, smoked a cigarette. … They took me to jail. I've been in jail ever since."

Hendershot indicated he had problems with his memory. Nicholson asked if he'd received any specific diagnoses related to that, and Hendershot answered schizophrenia and other disabilities.

After testimony concluded for the day, Hendershot's attorneys made a motion for Wood County Circuit Court Judge Robert Waters to instruct the jury that not guilty by reason of mental illness was a possible verdict on the murder charge. The prosecution objected and Waters denied the motion, noting Hendershot had been found competent to stand trial in three examinations.

Closing arguments are expected to be presented today after the prosecution calls a rebuttal witness. Waters said the possible verdicts on the murder charge are guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of lesser included offenses of voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter or not guilty.

Before the prosecution rested, Dr. Piotr Kubiczek, first deputy chief medical examiner of the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, testified that the cause of the elder Hendershot's death was "multiple blunt force injuries of the head."

Kubiczek said the man suffered an "extensive, catastrophic fracture of the skull" that drove a piece of bone into his brain. The injury could have been caused by a golf putter, he said in response to a question from Assistant Prosecutor Russell Skogstad. Investigators recovered samples of the elder Hendershot's blood from a putter, according to earlier testimony.

Assistant Public Defender Andrew Hilber asked Kubiczek about the levels of alcohol found in the victim's blood. Kubiczek said the blood-alcohol level was 0.05, which was consistent with decomposition. When Hilber asked if it could have been because of alcohol consumption, Kubiczek said if so, it would have involved only a small amount of alcohol and he would not have been "under the influence."

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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