Missing evidence case being investigated in Berkeley County

The Herald-Mail, Herald Mail Media, heraldmailmedia.com
BYLINE: Matthew Umstead,

Berkeley County, WV

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a case of missing items from the county sheriff’s evidence room.

Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. B.F. Hall said Thursday that investigators do not believe any of the evidence missing is from “active” cases.

“The person responsible for the evidence room at the time these items were taken has not been in control of the evidence room since 2009,” Hall said in an email.

Security measures in place for the evidence room had nothing to do with evidence being missing, he said.

Hall said he could not comment on what items were missing, saying the investigation is still ongoing.

Sheriff Kenneth Lemaster and Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely deferred to Hall when asked about missing evidence.

An investigation was immediatiately initiated “upon learning we had items missing,” Hall said.

The case comes about three years after a former Berkeley County sheriff’s deputy pleaded no contest in February 2011 to petit larceny in the theft of oxycodone pills from an evidence locker.

In that case, Christopher McCulley told superior officers in October 2010 that he took nine pills.

The tablets were among evidence seized in an investigation of a November 2009 shooting in Brookstone subdivision.

Oxycodone is a prescription medication used to relieve moderate to severe pain.

At that time, Lemaster said McCulley was injured while on duty and was trying to recover from the injury.

McCulley was employed with the sheriff’s office for about 14 years and held the rank of corporal, according to county and court records.

Hall said Thursday the discovery that evidence was missing had nothing to do with the sheriff’s office’s pending move to the new public safety building in the coming weeks.

An open house for the new facility at 510 S. Raleigh St., is set for March 1.

While not commenting about the investigation, Lemaster said Thursday that the evidence room at the department’s new headquarters is substantially larger than current facilities at 802 Emmett Rousch Drive.

The new room will be equipped with redundancies in security and a better tracking system to ensure evidence is not lost or misplaced, Lemaster said.

Deputies will be able to drop off items without actually entering the evidence room by using pass-through lockers that will be accessed from inside the secure area, Lemaster said.

A new computer system that has been put in place in cooperation with the county’s information technology department will provide better tracking and logging of evidence, Lemaster said.

There also is an evidence room within the evidence room itself, Lemaster said.

The evidence room in the sheriff’s office’s current facility was too small when the agency moved into the building, Lemaster said.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
International Association for Property and Evidence
"Law Enforcement Serving the Needs of Law Enforcement"
www.IAPE.org