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
