(Court Reports – Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)
PARKERSBURG – The man arrested in connection with the recent deaths of a Walker couple is in custody.
A bond hearing was held Tuesday before Wood County Circuit Judge Jason Wharton for Bradley Joseph Cantwell, 41, of 56 Lee Court, Walker, who was arrested last week on two counts of murder.
Wharton said Cantwell would be held without bond.
Cantwell was arrested May 29 without incident in the 1600 block of Blizzard Drive while leaving an area business, according to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office.
He was charged in the May 19 deaths of James Clifton Bailey, 41, and Felicia Jean Goff, 40, of 389 Morgan Ridge Road, Walker, where the fire started. In connection with the localization of the fire, firefighters entered the residence and found two people in the building, both dead.
It was later determined that both victims died of gunshot wounds before the fire.
According to a criminal complaint written by Wood County Sheriff’s Office Detective Lt. Mill Cochran, Cantwell was a resident of the home and was told around May 16 to leave and not return.
The witness brought him to the house before the fire broke out and reported it. Another witness said Cantwell told them he was going to jail for a long time. Another witness said Cantwell told them he was glad to get his belongings out of the house because it was on fire before the fire spread.
A third witness says Cantwell confided in them that he had just killed two people and needed to hide, according to a criminal complaint filed in Wood County Magistrate Court.
Court officials said the case is still pending in Wood County Magistrate Court and Cantwell may be charged in Wood County Circuit Court.
