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NEWS
Hearing scheduled in shooting death
HUNTINGTON -- A Cabell man charged in the shooting death of his girlfriend will appear before a grand jury on murder charges.
At a preliminary hearing Friday, a Cabell County magistrate found probable cause Friday against 41-year-old Robert Frazier in the homicide case of Kathryn Gale Smith, 58.
A witness and two police officers gave testimony on the case before Magistrate Amber Hanna, who bound the case to circuit court for consideration by a grand jury.
Frazier remains in jail on charges of murder and possession of a controlled substance, after being arrested on Aug. 25.
He was arrested after Smith's body was found in a bedroom of 530 Richmond St. in Guyandotte. She died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Frazier was apprehended by Huntington Police a short time later in an alley behind the Marathon station in the 600 block of Bridge Street.
Frazier was Smith's boyfriend, said her uncle Henry Smith, who was among family members at Friday's hearing. While he's confident in the prosecution's case, "It's just a sad situation all the way around," Henry Smith said. "She never met a stranger. A lot of that was her downfall."
Nineteen-year-old Joshua Jackson gave testimony at Friday's preliminary hearing, saying that he had stopped by the Richmond Street residence for about 10 minutes to make a payment on a motorcycle he was buying from Frazier. Frazier and Kathryn Smith were arguing when he arrived, Jackson testified, but he said he did not pay attention to the topic of the argument. He had known Frazier about a week, he said.
Jackson told the court that he was alone with Frazier and Smith in a room at the house, and then she went into a bedroom. Frazier then picked up a shotgun and followed her, Jackson said. Then Jackson heard a gunshot, he said. He left the house through the front door and as he did so, he saw Frazier exiting the house through a window.
Jackson told the court as he was leaving, he heard Frazier say, "Do not leave me," and that if anybody asked, Jackson was to say that he was never at that house.
Jackson found his father and told him what happened, and it was his father's boss who called 911, Jackson said. Jackson has no criminal record, he said, and he gave written and recorded statements to police the night of the crime.
HPD Officer Joseph Denning, the officer on duty in Guyandotte the night of the homicide, testified that he arrived at the scene about 5:45 p.m. Aug. 25 and, with the help of a neighbor, found Frazier in the alley behind the Marathon station. Frazier had a baggy with a 31.8 grams of a green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana, Denning said. He took Frazier back to the area of the residence, where HPD Capt. Steve Hall interviewed him, and then took Frazier back to the police station, Denning said.
Det. Chris Sperry with the Huntington Police Department told the court that Frazier confessed to the crime that night at the police station. Sperry referred to the defendant as "Rob" and said he's known him for a while.
Sperry said that Frazier initially lied about the crime, but then told Sperry that he couldn't lie to him and that he had shot Smith, and that it had something to do with her kicking him out of the house. Sperry said that Frazier told him that Smith had pulled the gun on him first, and that he wrestled the gun away from her before firing the fatal shot.
The gun is now in a weapons evidence box being processed for fingerprints, Sperry said.
Frazier then proceeded to tell Sperry some of the details, Sperry told the court, including how Frazier had stopped at another location, 222 Buffington St., to change clothes before he was arrested behind the gas station. Police went to all the locations indicated and found things as Frazier said they would be, Sperry said.
Sperry said he knew of no criminal record held by Smith.
