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Nutter received prison sentence in brother’s shooting death

William Allen Nutter

PARKERSBURG — William Allen Nutter was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison in the shooting death of his brother, Charles Ryan Cottle, in May 2020.

In March, a jury found Nutter guilty of voluntary manslaughter. 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.

On May 10, 2020, Parkersburg Police responded to 1324 Broadway Ave. for a report of shots fired. Cottle was shot multiple times in the torso and hip and was found against the back door of the family home, police reported.

During trial, Nutter testified he acted in self-defense as he was attacked by his brother and forced to defend himself after having an argument with their mother.

The mother, Mae Cottle, had previously testified Nutter was raging about the house, running up and down the stairs, kicking Ryan Cottle’s door open multiple times and yelling at her. This eventually led to Nutter hitting her and knocking her into a door frame which led to a busted lip and bleeding, she said. In response, Ryan Cottle grabbed a Spudbar (referred by some as a crowbar) and got into an altercation with Nutter which went downstairs. Mae Cottle testified hearing three shots. As she ran downstairs she said she saw Nutter shooting a pistol in the kitchen multiple times. The handgun was identified as his Taurus 9mm. The gun was fired 11 times with 10 shots hitting Ryan Cottle.

Nutter was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the count of voluntary manslaughter with a credit of 402 days credit for time served, court personnel said. On the count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, Nutter was sentenced to one year in prison with a credit of 365 days for time served and fined $1,000.

The sentences will run consecutively.

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