(Photo by Evan Bevins) Defendant Barbara Cupp, second from right, wipes her eyes as a recording of her 911 call from March 18, 2025, is played during closing arguments in her murder trial Friday in Wood County Circuit Court as, from left, Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure, defense attorney George Cosenza and co-counsel Travis Sayre listen. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Attorney argued self-defense in 2025 killing

PARKERSBURG — A jury on Friday found a Belmont woman guilty of second-degree murder in the March 2025 shooting death of a Williamstown man with whom she had been in a relationship.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated about four hours Friday afternoon before returning the verdict in Wood County Circuit Court.

The defendant, 33-year-old Barbara Cupp, faces 10 to 40 years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for May 28.

Cupp shot and killed Matthew Bills, 37, of Williamstown, on March 18, 2025. Her attorney said in his closing argument that she had acted in self-defense, while the prosecution said Cupp’s description of events didn’t match the evidence.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure holds the gun that was used to kill Matthew Bills as he points to a map of Bills’ home during closing arguments Friday in the murder trial of Barbara Cupp in Wood County Circuit Court. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

She was also found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Second-degree murder means the crime was committed intentionally and maliciously but without premeditation, according to instructions read to the jury Friday morning by Judge Robert Waters. They also could have found her guilty of first-degree murder, which includes premeditation, or voluntary manslaughter, which is intentional but without malice or premeditation.

Cupp took the stand in her own defense Thursday, testifying that Bills tried to shoot her when she came to the house to get her belongings, her attorney, George Cosenza said.

“She’s fighting for her life in this courtroom, like she was fighting for her life in that bathroom,” he said.

Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure did not dispute that Cupp suffered a potentially life-threatening gunshot wound that broke her clavicle, shoulder blade and multiple ribs. But he suggested the weapon was not fired by Bills.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure holds up an envelope containing the gun used to kill Matthew Bills during closing arguments Friday in the murder trial of Barbara Cupp in Wood County Circuit Court. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

“In a panic, (she said) ‘what do I do?’ She turns the gun on herself,” he said.

Cupp wiped her eyes with a tissue as Cosenza played a recording of the 911 call in which she said, “I’ve been shot.” He said she called her mother afterward and said Bills shot her. She also wrote it on a paper while communicating with her brother after waking up at WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, he said, holding up the notes, which had been entered as evidence.

But Lefebure noted Cupp did not say Bills shot her in the 911 call and did not provide other information when the dispatcher asked. He acknowledged she was in a lot of pain and probably going into shock but questioned why she then called her mother.

Lefebure said investigators recovered the bullet with which Cupp was shot from the bathroom and its location did not match Cupp’s description of the incident. He said her testimony, testimony from a family member and records from the hospital presented four different versions of the events.

Although Cupp claimed Bills struck her multiple times in the face and head with the gun, a trauma surgeon testified no injuries beyond those caused by the gunshot wound were observed by him or detected in a CT scan, Lefebure said. Cosenza later countered by holding up photographs he said showed Cupp with a black eye and wounds to her head.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Defense attorney George Cosenza uses a chart to explain the prosecution’s burden of proof in his closing argument Friday in the murder trial of Barbara Cupp in Wood County Circuit Court. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Cosenza argued Cupp had no reason to murder Bills – “someone who she cared about and someone that she loved” – even if he was breaking up with her, citing the positive relationships with her children and family.

“There’s absolutely nothing to it,” he said to the jury. “There’s no evidence to support it. And there’s no reason in the world that any of you should believe it.”

Cosenza said Bills was the aggressor and spoke about testimony indicating his temper.

Lefebure reminded jurors of testimony by a member of Cupp’s family that said she once remarked that she would kill Bills if he cheated on her. In response to Cosenza’s argument that there was no evidence of infidelity, Lefebure said it still spoke to her mindset about the potential end of the relationship.

He countered Cosenza’s argument about Cupp’s relationship with her family by saying Bills’ family, including his children, loved him too.

(Photo by Evan Bevins) Defense attorney George Cosenza holds up a note written by his client, Barbara Cupp, in the hospital during his closing argument in her trial Friday in Wood County Circuit Court. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

“Matt doesn’t get to go to family dinners anymore. Matt will never have that opportunity again, because of her,” he said.

Cosenza said Cupp acted in self-defense and the state had the burden of proof to show that she did not.

“It’s a tragedy that Matt Bills died at such a young age,” he said. “But let’s not compound this tragedy by finding Barbie guilty of murder or manslaughter or a crime she didn’t commit. Let’s send her home to her family.”

Lefebure said jurors should consider the credibility of Cupp’s testimony along with the other evidence presented.

“If someone is going to raise a self-defense argument … you have to believe that initial testimony,” he said.

9Photo by Evan Bevins0 Wood County Circuit Judge Robert Waters reads instructions to the jury before closing arguments in the murder trial of Barbara Cupp Friday. Cupp was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Bills was shot once in the abdomen, once in the chest and once in the back. The defense argued the wound to the abdomen happened when Bills pointed the gun., a .357 Magnum, at Cupp and she struck the weapon. Lefebure said the gun could not fire without someone pulling the trigger and suggested Cupp fired it at Bills after pulling it from a purse that contained a holster.

The defense said Bills then shot Cupp and she was eventually able to get the gun and shoot him when he left, she thought, to get another weapon. The prosecution argued she shot Bills in the chest after he was struck in the abdomen, then shot him in the back as he was trying to get out of the house.

Lefebure said the testimony of the surgeon who treated Cupp indicated her brachial nerve was severed and she could not utilize her left arm, even with adrenaline flowing.

The trial began with jury selection on Monday and opening arguments Tuesday morning.