Cale bound over to grand jury on murder charge
By ALEC RADER, Staff WriterArticle Photos
A Tucker County man said he would have come forward with information in the murder of Bonnie Cale earlier except for one thing -he was afraid for his and his family's safety. During a hearing Monday in Tucker County Magistrate Court, two witnesses testified saying Bonnie Cale's former husband, Wesley Scott Cale Sr., had talked about harming his ex-wife.
Bonnie Cale was reported missing in April 2002. Wesley Scott Cale Sr. was charged in November with concealment of a deceased body after investigators found skeletal remains buried in a shed on his property. Earlier this month, he was charged with first-degree murder after the state medical examiner's office positively identified the remains as those of Bonnie Cale.
Robert Lee Boyles Sr. testified before Magistrate Riley Barb that the defendant told him his wife would not be returning to the Cale's home on Licking Creek Road in Tucker County because she was "4 feet under." Boyles also stated that Wesley Scott Cale Sr. said Bonnie Cale "wasn't as bad as she thought she was" and that he "hit her with his fist."
Investigators may not have known what Boyles knew if it had not been for his brother who went to police with the information. Boyles gave his first statement to state police in 2006.
Boyles told Defense Attorney Daniel James on Monday that he didn't say anything to police before 2006 because he was afraid the defendant would harm him or his family.
"I was scared for my life," Boyles said in court Monday. "I couldn't think why he told me that."
According to Boyles, Wesley Cale Sr. made the comments about his wife a week or more after she was reported missing. After that, Boyles helped Wesley Cale Sr. move a hay bailer into a shed on the Licking Creek property then made no further attempts to speak with him. Boyles said after that he began thinking that the defendant might have begun to "have second thoughts" about making the statements.
The witness also said Wesley Scott Cale Sr. sat behind his home in the park and "watched" the house where Boyles and his family lived. He was unclear as to when it happened.
Also taking the stand was the father of Bonnie Cale who had a similar statement made to him by his daughter's then husband. Eight or nine months before Bonnie Cale was reported missing, William J. Clark and his wife traveled from their home in Cleveland, Ohio, to visit their daughter and then son-in-law for a weekend. Clark testified that he and the defendant had gone for a drive and Wesley Cale Sr. made threats toward his wife.
"He told me that if Bonnie ever left him or was running around on him he would kill her and spread lye on the body," Clark said. "I didn't know how to react."
Clark also testified that he had spoken with his daughter two weeks before her disappearance. Bonnie Cale was planning to return to Tucker County from Cedar Grove in Kanawaha County then proceed to Cleveland. During this phone conversation, Clark encouraged his daughter not to go to Tucker County and instead come directly Ohio.
"I tried to get her to leave him," he testified, "but she wouldn't."
Wesley Scott Cale Sr. came to Cedar Grove with a gun to threaten Bonnie Cale, according to Clark. He reportedly put the gun to her head and asked her, "How does it feel to die?"
Also during Monday's hearing, James and Prosecuting Attorney Mont Miller questioned Smithsonian Institute Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Douglas W. Owsley via phone.
His report to the medical examiner is still pending, but he told the court that the death of Bonnie Cale was a homicide. It was Owsley and a team of two archaeologists who recovered teeth that led to the remains found buried on the Cale Farm being identified as those of Bonnie Cale. Owsley's testimony focused on the examination of the remains and the severity of the damage to the skeleton.
"There were multiple blunt force impacts to the cranium," Owsley said. "There is evidence of very forceful blows to the head multiple times."
The doctor testified that in addition to "semi-circular" indentations on the skull, there were more than six ribs that were fractured as a result of "stomping" or "kicking." He further said that there was "not one impact" but "multiple, deep impacts" resulting in a "degree of damage" that "is very extensive."
"In my opinion there is no way this could have happened as an accident," Owsley stated.
When Sgt. R.L. Stump of the Parsons detachment of West Virginia State Police took the stand, he played for the court a recording of an interview of Wesley Scott Cale Sr., conducted by an officer on April 3, 2002. In the recording, the officer asked the defendant multiple times if he had hit, harmed or killed his wife. Every time the officer asked one of these questions, the answer was returned, "no." Wesley Scott Cale Sr. told the interviewing officer he and others saw Bonnie Cale leave their Licking Creek residence on March 24, 2002, and that she was going to Cleveland, Ohio, to obtain a birth certificate to have the license transferred from her old vehicle to the new one she had received earlier that day.
In the statement obtained on April 3, 2002, Wesley Scott Cale Sr. told officers that Bonnie Cale had more than one boyfriend in Charleston and often did cocaine, methamphetamine and crank. As to why he did not report his wife missing earlier, Wesley Scott Cale Sr. said he thought she had just "ran off" with one of the guys she had been seeing in Charleston.
Stump was also questioned about the defendant's sons. He told James he had spoken with two of Wesley Scott Cale Sr.'s children from a previous marriage. James asked if the eldest son had mentioned his father in committing the crime with which he is charged. Stump did not answer, but Miller did say the area regarding the defendant's son was difficult because the son was a minor at the time of the incident. Miller also alluded to a possible arrest.
"We do anticipate filing charges," the prosecutor said.
When the prosecution rested, James did not call any witnesses. Barb decided that there was enough evidence to bind the case to the grand jury stating that the circuit judge would then be able to set a bond for the defendant. Until then, Wesley Scott Cale Sr. will be held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
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Auntie
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12-27-09 2:30 PM
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MERRY CHRISTMAS BONNIE lets HOPE AND PRAY the NEW YEAR gets even BETTER
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woodman
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12-19-09 1:25 PM
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santa cant bring me what i need for cause all i want is you sorry you aint getting that GRizzly56
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justalocal
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12-16-09 9:06 AM
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Griz, you haven't been right yet regarding your thoughts/comments on this case. Bonnie isn't alive so she can't come home. They've proven it is in fact Bonnie. I think I'd just give up if I were you.
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GRizzly56
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12-15-09 11:18 PM
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BOYLE = BOYFRIEND
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Auntie
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12-15-09 11:18 PM
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Let's hope this man gets what he deserves
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GRizzly56
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12-15-09 11:15 PM
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WHAT? WHAT A CROKA POT
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