State v. Sette

Neely, Justice:

This is a criminal appeal from the Circuit Court of Monongalia County in which the appellant, Laurence Hugh Sette, was convicted of being an accessory before the fact to murder in the first degree. The appellant allegedly procured the murder of his wife by inducing a young woman, Kathy West, to kill her. There are numerous errors which require that we reverse the conviction and order a new trial.

The appellant’s wife was murdered on April 1, 1975 in Monongalia County, West Virginia. At that time the appellant was the manager of a McDonald’s Restaurant located on University…