MAN – A man on the run from a murder charge was shot and killed by law enforcement after appearing to go on one last crime spree, which may have included another murder.
At age 37, John Edward Dempsey spent most of his adult life in trouble with the law. He started out facing charges multiple times for worthless checks. Then charges of reckless driving, evading an officer, possession of drug paraphernalia and littering were added to his resume. Over the past several years, charges against Dempsey have been petit larceny, burglary and grand larceny. He was indicted in September 2012 for burglary and grand larceny for an incident that occurred in July 2012 and was free on a $10,000 bond awaiting his trial.
After the body of Grover Morrison was discovered at his residence on Jan. 8, Dempsey became a suspect. Mr. Morrison’s car and some of his belongings had been stolen. The car was recovered in the Man area, where Dempsey may have had his last run in with the law.
Dempsey had been hiding out in the home of Freddie “Pete” Williams. A witness said Dempsey had tied Williams up and stolen his medication several months ago. Thursday evening, Dempsey left Williams’ home carrying a shotgun and tried to get into the home of a neighbor, who told the story of his encounter with Dempsey.
““I was watching the National evening news Thursday night when a man stepped up on my porch. He had a ball cap on and light jacket. At first I didn’t recognize him because he had lost weight. It was Dempsey and I knew the shotgun he was carrying belonged to Freddie. I grabbed my pistol and told him to leave. I had already told my wife to go in the bedroom and call 911. I kept coming toward him with the pistol pointed at him, trying to stall for the police to come. He went to another neighbor, Pam Irwin, stole her SUV and headed up Buffalo Creek. I called Freddie’s house to tell him Dempsey was on the loose and to make sure his door was locked. He didn’t answer the phone and I had to leave a message. ”
Dempsey led police on a 10-minute chase, which ended when Dempsey got out of the car and was shot and killed by police.
About the same time in the same area Dempsey stole the vehicle, police discovered Williams’ body. He had been stabbed to death.
The West Virginia State Police and Logan Police Department are investigating to see if Dempsey had anything to do with Williams’ murder.
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Banner Correspondent Jerry Fekete added to this report
At age 37, John Edward Dempsey spent most of his adult life in trouble with the law.
That says it all right there! Two men are dead and my thoughts are all of this could have been avoided had our judicial system not failed us. When are we going to stop slapping the wrists of these predators that hide in the shadows to attack the innocent because the criminals are too lazy to actually work to earn things for themselves. We hear it everyday in this country and for those of us from Logan we see it daily, we hear how the people in the courthouse do not want to spend the money housing all of the criminal elements but isn't that what a jail is for? This waste of human flesh has been into trouble with the law on MANY occasions and our police have done their jobs by arresting him many, many times. Once he made the transition to Burglary and Grand Larceny our judicial system should have put him away for YEARS but instead, it seems to me like they just administered another slap to the wrist. Who are the people that have let this guy go free over and over? These are the questions that need answered! If I was the families of the two murdered individuals I would absolutely be livid with the judicial system (in this case I am sure they already are). It drives me up a wall when I see our police officers getting a bad rap because of the high crime rates. Our officers are out there everyday placing their lives on the line to track down and arrest the many criminals that we have amongst our communities. The sad truth is that the real guilty party seems to be those who work in the courthouse, which by the way are most likely a few elected personnel who continue to lower bail to allow the criminals to walk before the arresting officer can complete the paperwork. Jails are to house people who do not deserve to walk freely amongst an honest, law abiding population. Let's use them for that! If you want to save money don't do it by letting the guilty go free. Save money in the areas of TV, food and electricity in these jails. Why does a law breaker deserve cabel TV? Do they deserve food better than our soldiers in combat deserve. The least we should do is give them what our soldiers in uniform eat while in combat....MRE's for the prisoners. If they don't like it then TOUGH. Maybe the next time they decide to break the law they will think twice because they don't want to have to go back to jail where they get two MRE's a day. That's right, I said two. In many cases troops only get two MRE's a day and in Ranger and Sapper school's they get one! If that's all they can have then why should a person who has ZERO values and is a complete menace to society deserve better. If they want better food then they can grow it themselves. To save electricity they can wash their laundry by hand. MRE's do not need cooked so now you save money on operating a kitchen. This may sound far fetched but the United Sated needs our very own Siberia! I know that the movies with Kurt Russel (Escape from New York) may seem like a fairy tale but this may be what we, as law abiding citizens need to start demanding. Drug addicted citizens who commit crimes need sentenced to REAL RAHAB! No programs that let them walk the streets all day long where they are still subject to being around other drug users who have not made it into the program. They need to be sent to rehab facilities where they are segregated for 6 months to pull that monkey off of their back. Once complete, maybe they can return home and take their children back from the grandparents who have been raising them while they were lost to drugs. The females would leave rehab and never want to walk down that path which places many on the sides of the roads selling their bodies to toothless old men. The men could leave Rehab and try to get back on the work wagon to become the working man at the head of the household. For those that get out of rehab and continue going back to drugs then the three strike rule will have to apply. Drugs have destroyed our communities and you can only give people so many chances. It is not the working man's responsibility to always take care of those who do not care about their own actions. Am I my brother's keeper? Yes I am, but it is not my responsibility to protect him when he is too lazy to want to do for himself! As far as the CONVICTED murderers, rapists, DRUG DEALERS, Pedophiles, Thugs and Thieves.......send them straight to the condemned zone and let them fend for themselves. DUI's that result in the death of another should be automatic...condemned zone. A person who gets multiple DUI's...three strike rule in effect. Until our judicial system decides to do their job and start putting this garbage away for good it will only continue to get worse. Apparently we will have to wait for the elected officials to be robbed at gunpoint before they will initiate the war cry to start getting tough on crime. At the rate we are going now, it won't be long. Sappers Clear The Way! Airborne All The Way! MAJ Richard Ojeda