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Family of murder victim grieving By EDWARD MARSHALL / Journal Staff Writer MARTINSBURG — The family of 41-year-old murder victim Tina Marie Starcher described the woman Monday as a loving, compassionate person who would do anything she could for someone in need. Since the Martinsburg resident’s brutal murder, family members have banded together to comfort one another in their time of mourning and loss. “She had a really good heart,” her first cousin Sandra Cruz said. “I think a lot of people don’t really know that she was the kind person that would give you the shirt off her back. She would pretty much do anything for anyone who needed help.” Starcher lived with her family for several years, Cruz said, adding they were practically raised together as children, growing up in the home of Cruz’s mother and Starcher’s aunt, Margaret Hodge. “She was a kind, loving person who loved to help people especially older people,” Hodge said. “She was always caring for other people ... She was a kind-hearted person.” Family spoke of Starcher taking the time to care for fellow family members while they were sick or recovering from surgery. Starcher also often visited and took care of her elderly grandmother when she needed help. “She would come over and try to help out and bathe her. She was in her 90s,” Cruz said. Since Starcher’s tragic murder, her family is coping as best they can, though Cruz said the incident has brought them closer together. Even neighbors and friends have stopped by to help console the family in its time of need. “I think she was a very well known and liked person. She had a lot of friends,” Cruz said. “Her dad’s taking it pretty hard, of course.” Starcher was the mother of two children, an 18-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter. Her body was found on Dam No. 4 Road last Wednesday, nearly a month after she was raped and murdered. The West Virginia State Police investigated the case with the assistance of the Eastern Panhandle Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force and the Martinsburg Police Department. Both 37-year-old Anthony Charles Juntilla, of Tecumseh Trail, near Hedgesville and Fred Dwayne Douty II, 28, of Texas Street, Martinsburg have been charged with first-degree murder in connection to the slaying. Police received a tip last week reporting that a possible homicide may have been committed at Juntilla’s house. Douty, who later confessed to being at Juntilla’s residence on May 27 when Starcher was killed, told police the men traveled to Martinsburg where they met Starcher, who agreed to travel back with them to Juntilla’s home. However, when they arrived, Starcher asked to be taken home. Juntilla refused to allow the woman to leave and then both men raped her in the basement before beating her unconscious and dragging her into an upstairs bathroom where Juntilla allegedly slit her throat. Her body was discovered over an embankment at the location where Douty described. While Cruz said that Starcher made some bad decisions in the past, she said that she did not deserve what happened to her. “Everybody makes bad decisions and mistakes,” Cruz said. “... No one deserves to have what happened to her ... We’re going to miss her.” Both Juntilla and Douty are being held without bail at Eastern Regional Jail. They both face life in prison if convicted. West Virginia does not have the death penalty.

Benoit's death part of a double murder-suicide Written: June 25, 2007According to lead investigator Lt. Tommy Pope, of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, in Fayetteville, Ga., the deaths of WWE Superstar Chris Benoit, wife Nancy and son Daniel were the result of a double murder-suicide, WWE.com has learned. Benoit failed to appear both at Saturday’s live event in Beaumont, Texas, and WWE’s Vengeance: Night of Champions in Houston Sunday night, after informing WWE of a family emergency. Several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning prompted concerned friends to alert Richard Hering, VP of Government Relations for WWE, Inc. Hering, in turn, spoke with Fayette County sheriffs Monday, and requested they respond to the Benoit residence to check on him and his family. Authorities representing the Sheriff’s Department initially had a difficult time entering Benoit’s new Fayetteville home Monday afternoon, which had been guarded by two large German Shepherds roaming freely around the property. Once authorities entered the residence, they quickly located the bodies of Benoit, Nancy and Daniel. WWE was notified of the discovery at approximately 4 p.m. At 10 p.m. Monday night, Lt. Pope held a press conference in conjunction with Scott Ballard, the district attorney for Fayette County. The press conference officially ruled authorities’ findings as a double murder-suicide from within the home. WAGA, a FOX-owned and operated television station in Atlanta, reported that investigators believe Benoit killed his wife and 7-year-old son over the weekend, then himself on Monday. The three bodies have been received by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, in Decatur, Ga., where autopsies will be performed Tuesday morning. Toxicology reports will not become available for at least two weeks. Chris Benoit Related Content Chris Benoit's Superstar page

Two charged in brutal murder By MICHAEL C. LEWIS / Journal Staff Writer Editor’s note: Because of the nature of the crime, the following story contains graphic details which may disturb some people. The story may be inappropriate for younger children. MARTINSBURG — A 41-year-old Martinsburg woman was raped, beaten unconscious and had her throat slit before her body was dumped along a rural area off Dam No. 4 Road in the Scrabble area on May 27, police said. The victim’s body, discovered by state police Wednesday, was identified by the West Virginia Office of the Medical Examiner as Tina Marie Starcher. The identification of the body was made on Friday by way of fingerprints. West Virginia State Police charged two men, Anthony Juntilla, 37, of Hedgesville and Fred Dwayne Douty II, 28, of Martinsburg, in the first—degree felony murder of Starcher, and issued warrants for their arrests on Saturday. Juntilla was charged last week with threatening retaliation against a public official. Police said Juntilla told his attorney he wanted to hit a Child Protective Services social worker in the head with a chair. The conversation occurred outside a judge’s courtroom. Juntilla was arraigned on that charge Thursday and confined in the Eastern Regional Jail on $100,000 bond. Trooper J.J. Bowman, in a complaint filed in Berkeley County Magistrate Court, said police were notified of a possible homicide by Charles Town Telecommunication last Sunday. Police spoke to a male “complainant” who said a homicide may been committed at 86 Tecumseh Trail in Hedgesville. Police did not identify the complainant. “The complainant then put a female on the phone who advised Juntilla had stated to her that he had raped, killed and dumped a female’s body off Dam No. 4 Road. The female advised this incident occurred on May 26 or 27.” After traveling to the Hedgesville address, Bowman examined a basement couch containing a red substance, confirmed by a Crime Scene Team as positive for human blood. The unidentified female said a male named “Fred” assisted in the rape and murder of the female. On Wednesday, police met with the man they believed, based on his description by the female, was “Fred” — Fred Dwayne Douty II. Bowman obtained a confession from Douty that he was at 86 Tecumseh Trail, Juntilla’s Hedgesville residence, when a female was killed. Douty said he was driving Juntilla’s vehicle the morning of May 27 and traveled to Centre Street and located a white female. After asking the female if she wanted to get high, the woman, now identified as Starcher, got in the back seat of Juntilla’s vehicle, according to police. Douty drove Juntilla and the woman back to Juntilla’s home, at which time, she asked to be taken back home. “Juntilla refused to allow the female to leave without engaging in sexual intercourse. The two men then made the female take off her pants and began to engage in sexual intercourse with her on the couch in the basement of the home,” the report states. According to Douty’s statement, Juntilla began striking Starcher repeatedly in the face and head with his fist–Starcher asked him to stop and asked again to be taken home. Juntilla eventually knocked her unconscious, the report states. “Juntilla and Douty carried the female to the upstairs bathtub and placed the female inside to clean off the body. Anthony Juntilla then slit the female’s throat with a knife,” the report says. Juntilla poured “a cleaning liquid” on Starcher’s mouth and pelvic area, according to the police report. After placing Starcher’s body in a blue container, Douty said he drove Juntilla and the container with the body to the location off Dam No. 4 Road. Juntilla then “drug the female into a wooded area” off the road and “kicked the female body until it fell off a rock ledge.” Starcher’s body was transported to Charleston where final autopsy results are pending. In 2004, Tina Marie Starcher, was charged by Martinsburg City Police for solicitation of prostitution during a sting operation. Court records were not available Saturday to determine the final outcome of the charge. A charge against an individual is not an indication of guilt. If convicted, the two men could face life imprisonment. —Staff writer Michael C. Lewis can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 127, or at mlewis@journal-news.net Section: News Posted: 6/24/2007