State v. Welker

NEELY, Justice:

On 25 April 1985, a Cabell County jury convicted Diana Welker of the premeditated murder of her four-year-old daughter Patricia. On appeal Mrs. Welker raises several assignments of error. Because we find three of Mrs. Welker’s assignments meritorious, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

I

At about 7:30 p.m. on 15 February 1984, Mrs. Welker and her live-in boyfriend, David Adkins, reported the disappearance of four-year-old Patricia Welker to the State Police. Mrs. Welker claimed not to know the whereabouts of Patricia, but offered several hypotheses, all of which she knew to…