Defense Attorney Joe Munoz and William Allen Nutter during trial this week in Wood County Circuit Court. (File Photo)

PARKERSBURG — A jury found William Allen Nutter guilty of voluntary manslaughter Friday in the Mother’s Day 2020 shooting death of his brother, Charles Ryan Cottle.

After deliberating for about two hours Friday afternoon, the jury returned the verdict convicting Nutter of a lesser included offense to first- or second-degree murder. He was also found guilty of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm but acquitted of a charge of domestic battery against his mother.

“(Nutter) and I believe that the trial was conducted fairly, that the jury took their role very seriously, and we believe it’s a just verdict,” said Joe Munoz, Nutter’s defense attorney.

Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure declined to comment after the verdict, saying the case was ongoing until Nutter’s sentencing, scheduled for 2 p.m. June 15. He faces three to 15 years in prison on the voluntary manslaughter charge and a year on the prohibited person in possession of a firearm count.

The jury began deliberations around 1:15 p.m. Friday.

Defense attorney Joe Munoz picks up a pry bar, used as evidence in the trial of William Nutter, who shot and killed his brother Charles Ryan Cottle in May 2020. The trial concluded Friday. (Photo by Candice Black)

Before the closing arguments Friday morning, Wood County Circuit Court Judge Jason Wharton presented jurors with instruction regarding their verdict and the pending charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, domestic battery and a prohibited person with a firearm.

Wharton explained the difference between first- and second-degree murder: first-degree murder is deliberate and premeditated; second-degree murder is without deliberation or premeditation.

He also talked about the difference between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Wharton said involuntary manslaughter occurs when someone unintentionally kills someone in commission of an unlawful act committed by the defendant.

The definition of self-defense in West Virginia was read to jurors and Wharton explained the defendant cannot be the aggressor and would have to have been in imminent danger of bodily injury.

Lefebure approached the jury, pointing out the differences between Nutter’s testimony Thursday and mother Mae Cottle’s testimony earlier in the week.

Mae Cottle, mother of William Allen Nutter and Charles Ryan Cottle, was present during the closing remarks of the trial for the shooting of Ryan. She emotionally exited the courtroom during the prosecution’s final arguments and did not return to the courtroom. (Photo by Candice Black)

“What we have here are two versions of May 10 that cannot exist together. Mae, the mother of Ryan and Nutter, providing a home for her two sons, are the only two people that can tell you what happened that day in that house,” Lefebure said.

He mentioned jurors should take into account the credibility of the witness and said Nutter’s claim of self-defense “doesn’t make sense.”

“You can’t be the aggressor and then claim self-defense, he can’t create the situation he claims he needs self-defense from,” he said. “This was Mother’s Day, a Mother’s Day she’ll never forget. She told you that she has lost both of her sons.”

After this statement, Mae Cottle left the room and did not return for the rest of the closing arguments.

Lefebure showed the jury photos of Mae Cottle’s injuries sustained that day and of Nutter’s hand with a mark on his knuckle, consistent with her testimony, he said.

“We know Mae was bleeding, her blood was found on the stairs,” Lefebure said. “It’s that battery that caused Ryan to finally say ‘enough is enough.’ He grabbed something metallic and chased Nutter down the stairs after she had been struck. That’s where we need to look at these two versions of events. Ryan was there. That was her protector. He was protecting his 62-year-old mother.”

He mentioned specific parts of Nutter’s testimony that he believed didn’t add up, namely Nutter’s comments about Ryan never having hit him before.

“(Nutter) said Ryan had never hit him before. He tried to challenge him to a fight before but he said no,” Lefebure said.

In the photos of the crime scene, Lefebure showed that items in the home had not been disturbed and didn’t depict a struggle, which Nutter said happened. He said he also believes Nutter wasn’t telling the truth when he testified that he was close to Ryan when he shot him.

“Gunshot wounds were not close contact wounds, he said they were within 6 inches of each other when he fired. (They were) indeterminate distance away, again, (it’s) not consistent with his story,” he said.

During the few-minute window between the shooting and law enforcement arriving, Lefebure said Nutter did not attempt to perform any lifesaving acts on his brother.

“Evidence points to a first-degree murder conviction,” he said. “A bullet was found embedded on the floor. He continued to fire while he was down. (It was) taken out of the floor right behind where Ryan lay.”

Munoz then approached the jury to talk about Nutter’s reasons for acting out of self-defense.

“When you go to deliberate, keep in mind the words the judge read to you, (what) words like premeditation, deliberation, malice and self-defense mean. Apply what you’ve learned and apply those to those terms,” Munoz said.

He referenced testimony that said Nutter was compliant with law enforcement and that his 911 call was frantic because he was attacked. He then talked about the text message Ryan Cottle had sent to his girlfriend shortly before the shooting which said “things aren’t great here either.”

“Did Ryan do something that afternoon that made the situation at that house any better or did his actions make a bad situation a hell of a lot worse?” Munoz said. “I submit that his actions did escalate the situation and aggravate a situation between Billy and his mom into something deadly.”

Munoz said Ryan Cottle made the situation worse by grabbing the pry bar and “flew” down the steps after Nutter. He also referenced DNA results which resulted in a positive match for two sets of DNA on the firearm and Nutter’s DNA on the pry bar.

In response to Lefebure’s comment about how far away Nutter was from Ryan when he shot him, Munoz said Nutter never said he immediately started firing after he took hold of the gun.

“I think he backed up and told Ryan to stop,” he said.

He also questioned Mae Cottle’s credibility due to her inability to remember some specifics of the events that happened that day.

“She said she couldn’t remember whether she was slapped or punched. Does a mother on Mother’s Day not remember how she was struck? She was pretty aware of some things, not so much aware of other things,” Munoz said.

He asked the jury to find Nutter not guilty of first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.

“Based on what I’ve said, any reasonable person would have acted the way Billy did. Even if it’s your brother, you have the God-given right to defend yourself and that’s exactly what Billy did,” Munoz said.

To which Lefebure responded:

“You know what is (a) God-given right? For Ryan to protect his mother and for Mae to be free from battery, to not be afraid to live in her house and to not be beaten by her son,” he said.

Lefebure then talked about the message Ryan Cottle sent to his girlfriend saying things weren’t great at the house that day.

“What is that consistent with? He is running up and down the steps, ranging, yelling and screaming. That was the last text he ever sent. His cell phone was found in his room. It’s not that they formed some plan, that text is telling you he was running up and down the steps, a bad situation,” he said.

He then said he believed Nutter placed the holster at the scene which was found next to Ryan’s body in the kitchen.

“Where does this holder come from? This holster is meant to be attached, it’s not attached to his leg. (Nutter) planted this and put it at the scene. It makes no sense for him to have that holster that is not attached, he had to come up with some version of self-defense,” Lefebure said.

Staff reporter Evan Bevins contributed to this story.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.