Jury selection in homicide case continues
WAYNESBURG – Jury selection will continue today in the criminal homicide trial of husband and wife, Jason William Roe, 33, and Lana Kay Roe, 41, of 65 Main St., Daisytown. The trial is expected to begin as soon as a jury is seated.
The Roes are both charged in the Aug. 14, 2012, death of Cordele Edward Patterson, 38, of Grindstone, who was shot to death in a cabin in Wayne Township. Jason Roe faces an additional charge of aggravated homicide.
The Roes, dressed in street clothes, sat through the first day of the jury selection that resulted in 8 jurors being seated – 5 men and 3 women. Before testimony begins before Judge William Nalitz, four more regular jurors and four alternates need to be selected.
On the day of the homicide, Southwest Regional Police responded to a call that a female with a gunshot wound arrived at a residence at 113 Hoy Run Road, Spraggs. Lana Roe told police she drove herself to that location after being shot by her husband at the cabin about a half mile north of Rudolph Run Road.
Meanwhile, state police had received a call that there was a man with a gun at a cabin on Strawn Hill Road. Police said they arrived at the cabin, looked inside but initially did not see anyone. After obtaining a search warrant, they located Patterson behind a futon, already deceased.
When Jason Roe could not be located police issued an alert and he was apprehended by West Virginia State Police.
Lana Roe was treated and released at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. for a head wound. She was subsequently arrested by police Aug. 24, 2012, and charged as an accomplice in the homicide.
Lana Roe told police she and her husband went to Patterson’s trailer Aug. 14 she claimed he told her he had found items stolen from them. The couple then drove to the Dry Tavern Tru Value Hardware store to purchase a gun for target practice at the cabin.
According to Lana Roe, when they arrived, Jason Roe told her to go inside and wake up Patterson. She did not elaborate on how they knew he was there. She said she woke Patterson and told him to follow her outside, and after proceeding down a path she told him to stop, according to police. She said she then heard shots being fired and was hit by a bullet. Police said she told them she proceeded to their vehicle, got out a 9mm pistol, and began firing in the direction of Patterson.
Jason Roe told police he saw Patterson coming out of the cabin behind his wife and he shot in that direction, accidently hitting her. Police said he then ran past his wife and continued to chase Patterson into the cabin where he fired one round from a shotgun, striking him in the shoulder. Police said Jason Roe told them Patterson spun around, fell behind the futon, and he leaned over the futon and fired another round. At his preliminary hearing, Roe said he acted in self-defense.