Ball murder indictment unsealed; Additional suspect charged with accessory
PARKERSBURG — The unsealing of the indictment in the 2014 murder of Cindy Ball revealed another count against the man accused of killing her and an alleged accomplice charged with accessory after the fact.
According to the indictment unsealed Wednesday, Gregory A. Casto, 56, no address listed, was indicted by a special session of the Wood County Grand Jury on charges of murder and concealment of a deceased human body.
The indictment also lists a charge of accessory after the fact to murder against Martha Jane Stephens, no age listed.
Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure said Stephens, a Waverly resident, was arrested Wednesday, arraigned and released on a $10,000 bond.
Ball’s body was discovered by hunters off Sugar Camp Road in Wirt County on Oct. 24, 2014, two days after she was last seen leaving with someone from the Overtime Sports Bar on Emerson Avenue in Parkersburg.
West Virginia State Police said she had suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Casto’s indictment was announced Tuesday by Lefebure, who credited advancements in technology, additional testing and continued work by law enforcement. He declined to discuss how Casto was identified as a suspect or what connection he had to Ball, with the investigation still considered ongoing.
On Wednesday, Lefebure had the same answer when asked about Stephens’ relationship with Casto or Ball.
Casto is in custody at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County. He’s being held without bond, with an arraignment set for Monday in Wood County Circuit Court.
The indictment does not go into specifics about the allegations beyond the name of the victim and the county where it took place. The accessory charge alleges Stephens harbored, concealed, maintained or assisted Casto to help him “avoid or escape detention, arrest, trial or punishment” in October 2014.