Margarett Burdette, program director for Court-Appointed Special Advocates, takes the stand for questioning at the Madison Wine murder trial Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court. (Photo by James Dobbs)

PARKERSBURG — According to a set of stipulations agreed to by the prosecution and defense, in May 2019, then-16-year-old Madison Wine started a fire with gasoline at her Davisville home, in which her adoptive parents, Robert and Charolette Taylor died.

She called 911 from a neighbor’s house to report the fire and later told Deputy West Virginia Fire Marshal Jason Baltic she started the fire.

Wood County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Beane read off these and other stipulations as Wine’s trial on murder and arson charges began Tuesday, following Monday’s jury selection.

It was also stipulated that a juvenile in the residence sustained injuries, including smoke inhalation, and was transported to WVU Medicine Camden Clark, where she recovered from the injuries.

Roane County Prosecutor Josh Downey was appointed to represent the state after the defense made a motion to disqualify the Wood County Prosecutor’s Office.

Earnest Douglass, lawyer, takes the stand for questioning at the Madison Wine murder trial Tuesday in Wood County Circuit Court. (Photo by James Dobbs)

“When we’re done with the evidence and the testimony of this matter, I’m going to stand before you again and I’m going to ask you to find that Madison Wine is guilty of the crime she committed in May of 2019 here in Wood County West Virginia,” Downey said in his opening statement Tuesday. “I’m going to ask you to find her guilty of the charges of murder, first-degree arson, attempted murder and animal cruelty.”

Defense attorney Ryan Umina started his opening statement by taking the court back in time to Wine’s birth.

“Like all newborn babies, she has all the hopes, dreams, happiness and joy in the world,” he said. “But for this little girl, things changed very quickly; by the age of 2 years old, she is removed from her parent’s home due to their drug abuse.”

Umina continued by recalling other early “traumas” in Wine’s life, including being taken again from her parents at the age of 6 because of their continued drug abuse by her parents, her mother’s prostitution in their home, neglect, molestation, mental abuse and her father’s death. Umina showed a ruler to the jury and tried to relate the ruler bending to Wine’s mental state bending during her early traumas in life. He eventually snapped the ruler in half, as a metaphor for Wine’s mental state.

While Baltic was on the stand, the prosecution entered into evidence the 911 call Wine made after the fire was started, an approximately 43-minute statement she made to Baltic in front of Wood County Sheriff’s Deputy Tasha Hewitt and photographs Baltic took during his investigation.

Dr. Roy Lubit, a psychiatrist who examined Madison Wine for the defense, is handed a previous report he wrote to refresh his memory by defense attorney J. Morgan Leach in Wood County Circuit Court Tuesday. (Photo by James Dobbs)

Baltic said Charolette and Robert Taylor were found dead in their bedroom and three dogs were also found dead in the home. He mentioned a firefighter found styrofoam cups smelling of gasoline in the trash can at the back door of the residence, as well as a gasoline canister.

Baltic said he took Wine’s statement after reading her Miranda rights and said she appeared coherent. During the recorded statement Wine said she heard “a big boom,” then ran out the door to the neighbor’s house to call 911. She also recalled running away due to “my nana (Charolette) always belittling me.”

Baltic went on to tell Wine that he believed she knew more than she said.

“No matter what you tell me, this is my deal, I deal with this, okay?,” he said. “There’s nobody gonna be mad at you, there’s nobody gonna get onto you, we’ll deal with it, okay? It’s not like we’re gonna snatch you up and throw you in jail tonight, okay?”

He then proceeded to ask her more questions, until Wine stated that she set the fire.

Dr. Roy Lubit is shown photographs that Prosecutor Josh Downey put into evidence during the Tuesday morning session of the Madison Wine murder trial. (Photo by James Dobbs)

On cross examination, Umina tried to challenge Baltic’s credibility, by asking him about what he knew about Hewitt at the time of the fire. He asked if Baltic was aware Hewitt had been accused of lying in previous court proceedings and if he knew at that time that she was in a dispute with her department. Baltic said he was unaware.

After lunch recess, defense attorney J. Morgan Leach questioned three witnesses: Margarett Burdette, the program director for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA); Earnest Douglass, a lawyer and guardian ad litem to Wine; and Dr. Roy Lubit, an expert witness and psychiatrist.

Burdette testified to her relationship with Wine, saying Wine’s birth mother failed the improvement plan to get her daughter back. She stated that Wine could tell that her mother was prostituting herself for drugs at the age of 12. She also mentioned that Wine didn’t get to experience a real childhood, even when adopted by the Taylors.

Douglass said he remembers Wine disclosing an attempted rape by a relative to her mother, who replied the relative had done the same to her. He also said he filed a motion to stop the visitation of her mother, because she kept showing up to visits under the influence, and said Wine was aware of her being under the influence of substances.

Lubit said Wine was not able to follow actions to a logical conclusion, because it would be logical to understand that if you started a fire you would be going to jail. He said she was trying to start a fire to scare her adoptive parents into letting her leave the home. He also said she had a history of suicidal thoughts, physical harm in the way of cutting herself, and was diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD, complex trauma and below normal intelligence.