The front page of The Parkersburg News on Nov. 21, 1979, with a story about the murder of Charles Morgan Marsh. William Wickline Jr. was indicted for the crime in 1985 in Wood County, but never stood trial because he was executed in Ohio.

PARKERSBURG — The 45th anniversary of one of the most sensational murders in the region will be marked today.

The decapitated body of Charles Morgan “Swampy” Marsh, 34, of South Carolina, was found on Nov. 20, 1979, by his girlfriend at a residence on Dry Run Road, starting an investigation that probed numerous tips, leads, connections and coincidences, but came up with nothing until informants years later disclosed how William Wickline Jr. killed the Vietnam War veteran, investigators said.

Bob Newell, a former police chief in Parkersburg who was a detective then, and Detectives Tom Dent and Mike Spellacy were investigating other crimes they thought at the time were related to the Marsh murder, including a robbery where the victim was handcuffed behind his back. Marsh also was found handcuffed behind his back, leading police to believe the murder was connected to the robbery that was drug related.

“Two people handcuffed within a week of each other,” Newell said. “That hasn’t happened here before.”

The cases were unrelated, he said.

Investigators from the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and West Virginia State Police at a residence on Dry Run Road where the body of Charles Morgan “Swampy” Marsh was found. Marsh was tortured for information about drugs and money, then beheaded.

The initial investigation of the Marsh killing was handled by the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and the West Virginia State Police. All parties later agreed for Parkersburg Police to assist because it investigated most of the murders and other high crimes in the region and the Marsh killing may have had connections to other investigations, Newell said.

Spellacy and Newell were sent to the Marsh residence where Spellacy searched for fingerprints, of which Spellacy was an expert.

“We found nothing,” Newell said.

All leads ended in dead ends, Newell said. The State Police several months later began its own investigation, but also turned up nothing, he said.

Several years later Columbus detectives were questioning two women in an unrelated drug trafficking investigation, Newell said. With immunity from prosecution, they told how they accompanied Wickline to Marsh’s residence, Newell said.

During the time period, Wickline, who learned how to butcher meat in prison, was charged in 1984 with the 1979 murders of Christopher and Peggy Lerch whose bodies have never been found. Wickline was sentenced to death in September 1985 and the sentence was carried out by lethal injection in March 2004 at the penitentiary at Lucasville.

Former Wood County Prosecutor Harry Deitzler went to the Marsh residence in 1979. Prosecutors are notified and go to the scene when a dead body is found, each taking turns on the calls, he said.

Deputies and paramedics were standing around the bed where Marsh’s body was located when Deitzler arrived. Deputy Charlie Johnson received the initial call shortly after noon, Deitzler said.

Debbie Hannah, a girlfriend of Marsh, discovered the body when she went home for lunch.

The investigation determined Wickline and Marsh knew each other through drug deals, Deitzler said. Wickline was accompanied to Parkersburg by two women who waited for him while he was at Marsh’s, Deitzler said.

Wickline handcuffed Marsh and tied his legs with a telephone cord, proceeding then to torturing him for several hours before killing him, Detizler said.

Years later, after all the local leads didn’t produce a killer, Newell received a call from a detective in Columbus who, through other investigations, had information about the Marsh murder, Deitzler said. Newell referred them to the State Police, Troopers Bill Rectenwald and K.O. Adkins.

Wickline’s girlfriend, Lawanna “Pixie” Norton, and her girlfriend Debbie Dills were questioned as part of a federal drug investigation, Newell said. The two women, accessories before and after the fact, recounted Wickline’s participation in the Marsh murder, Newell said.

Columbus homicide detectives were investigating the Lerch murders, Rectenwald said.

“(Norton) ended up giving Wickline up for killing those people,” he said.

Wickline told a fellow inmate in prison about how he was involved in a murder in West Virginia, handcuffing, tying him and torturing the victim, Deitzler said.

Norton also said Wickline cut a man’s head off, Rectenwald said. Ohio investigators were unsure of the information, thinking she may be saying things for them to go easier on her, according to Rectenwald.

“They weren’t sure if she was telling the truth,” Rectenwald said.

Authorities in Columbus called Newell and asked if they had a decapitation murder, to which Newell said there was and he notified State Police of the information from Columbus.

The State Police report also found Tory James Gainer, a bookie in Marietta, and Wickline conspired to have Marsh killed to recover money and narcotics, Deitzler said. Wickline tortured Marsh to get information about the money and drugs, Deitzler said.

The report also indicates Wickline was trying to get the girlfriend’s location, Deitzler said.

Wickline didn’t find the money or drugs, but local investigators found $30,000 under the mattress where Marsh was found, Deitzler said.

Wickline left the residence in Marsh’s truck, abandoning it in Williamstown, Rectenwald said. Norton was staying at a motel in Williamstown and was contacted by Wickline to meet him on the road, Rectenwald said.

Gainer was killed by Wickline the following February on a contract from a Columbus man who ran a gambling operation, Newell said. Norton was present at Gainer’s murder, Newell said.

Wickline was never charged with the Gainer murder.

She described how Gainer was dismembered by Wickline and taking Gainer’s car to the Columbus airport where it was put into long-term parking, Rectenwald said. The vehicle was recovered by police, a fact she didn’t know, he said.

The woman had details leading investigators to believe she was telling the truth, Rectenwald said.

An hour before the Marsh killing, Newell and Dent, who also later became chief of police, were near Ollies’ nightclub where the owner called in an incident involving Gainer, Newell said. A rifle loaded with a 30-round clip was found in Gainer’s car and he was charged with a weapons violation, Newell said

Newell said he always wondered why Gainer had the rifle, then realized years later it was concern for his safety because of the coming hit on Marsh.

Gainer, who ran a gambling operation in Marietta, failed to appear for a hearing in federal court in Columbus in 1980 and was never again seen, Newell said.

“He was already dead at the time,” Newell said.

Wickline, who was in prison in Ohio, was indicted in April 1985 in Wood County for Marsh’s murder, but never went to trial.

The state of West Virginia proceeded with extradition and Wickline waived his rights to a speedy trial, Deitzler said. There was uncertainty Wickline would remain in custody, Deitzler said.

When Wickline’s defense learned West Virginia would proceed with the charges and extradition, Wickline waived his right to a speedy trial and in return West Virginia would delay extradition, Deitzler said.

Otherwise, Wickline would have gone free if the charges in Ohio were reversed and West Virginia would have been powerless to prosecute because he didn’t waive the right to a speedy trial, Deitzler said.