The preliminary hearings for two men involved in what police allege was a murder-for-hire plot were continued Monday in Upshur County Magistrate Court.
Robert Eugene Siron III, 30, of Weston, will have his case heard by Magistrate Juanita Adams at 1:15 p.m. Thursday. He is facing a first-degree murder charge and is being held without bond in the Northcentral Regional Jail.
The man accused of killing 29-year-old Joshua Oberg at some point after he was reported missing in January, Jesse Lee Heater, 28, of Buckhannon, waived the 10-day period in which a preliminary hearing must be held. His attorney, James Hawkins, requested the continuance because he believed he needed additional time to investigate the case. No new date for the hearing was scheduled.
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Siron
The third man accused in the plot, Rodolpho Correa Villagomez, 32, of Buckhannon, is scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday. Court documents list the defendant's last name as Correa, while a news release issued by the West Virginia State Police lists his last name as Villagomez.
He is accused of paying Heater "a substantial" amount of cash to kill Oberg, according to the criminal complaint in Magistrate Court. Villagomez is facing a charge of being an accessory before the fact of first-degree murder.
The complaint also states that Siron received cash from Heater shortly after Oberg's death. Siron is believed to have been an eyewitness to Oberg's death.
Both Heater and Villagomez are being held without bond in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
Investigators with the West Virginia State Police have not released a possible motive in the alleged murder. Oberg was last seen on Jan. 23 and was reported missing four days later. His remains were found in a shallow grave along Bull Run Road on July 23. The state police reported receiving information from a confidential informant about the location.
Heater was arrested that same day, and both Siron and Villagomez were taken into custody the following day.
Authorities are also looking into a possible connection between Oberg's death and the disappearance of Luke Stout. Stout was last seen on July 18 at his residence on Hickory Flat Road in Upshur County. Volunteer searchers have been combing the area where Stout is believed to have been last, although no evidence has been discovered.
