Unusual "Murder by Duel" Charges Filed in Southern West Virginia

A 158-year-old Law Predating the State of WV is Used for the First Time in the Case of a Murder

WELCH, WV - Dueling...it's a crime we don't hear about anymore in our modern-day world. Yet, Steven Bryant Simpson Sr., 47, of Gilliam Bottom, WV has been charged with just that.

It all occurred on Friday, April 20, 2007, when Dana "Boo" Martin was using his ATV to help a woman move. He had, apparently, driven past Simpson's home many times and the noise disturbed Simpson so much that he confronted Martin in the road, where an altercation ensued, according to witnesses. That is when the two departed the scene to retrieve handguns. Upon returning, a shootout occurred and Martin, 39, received a torso wound. He was pronounced dead at Welch Community Hospital shortly thereafter.

McDowell County, WV prosecutors have charged Simpson, 47, with "murder by duel" on April 30. The law is older than the state of West Virginia and was written in 1849 by Virginia. WV State Code: 61-2-18 reads, "If a person fights a duel in this State, and in so doing inflicts a mortal wound, he shall be deemed guilty of murder. And if a person resident in this State, by previous agreement made within the same, fights a duel without the State, and in so doing inflicts a mortal wound, he shall be deemed guilty of murder in this State." West Virginia received statehood status in 1863.

According to McDowell County Prosecuting Attorney Sid Bell, it is not unusual to have an old Virginia law in West Virginia's state code. "We're not aware of it being used in McDowell County or any other part of the state," Bell said. "Our state code has annotations under each statute about when a case under it was brought before the state supreme court." Not only is it not believed to have been used in McDowell county, but also anywhere in the state's history, according to attorney William Sanders, Sr. of Princeton, WV.

Murder by dueling is a felony and carries the same penalties as first-degree murder, which is life in prison, according to State Trooper J.S. McCarty. Simpson was originally charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and was released on bond prior to the new, rare charges.