Weirton murder case transferred to Hancock County Circuit Court | News, sports, jobs

JORDAN PAGER

NEW CUMBERLAND – Despite his defense attorney's pleas, first-degree murder is still on the docket for a Weirton man accused of fatally shooting his 30-year-old girlfriend over the weekend.

During a hearing Thursday, Hancock County Magistrate Ralph Fletcher found probable cause to transfer both first- and second-degree murder charges against 32-year-old Jordan Lee Pager to district court.

Fletcher heard from three witnesses on behalf of the state who recounted how Hancock County 911 received a cryptic pager call around 5 a.m. Saturday and eventually revealed the man thought he needed an ambulance and the police because of a drug overdose. They dispatched Weirton police and Hancock County Ambulance to a residence in the 3000 block of Elm Street.

Patrolman Ivan Diaz testified that 15 minutes after Pager's initial call, he was the first officer on the scene to investigate a possible drug overdose because police had already been present on another call. When Diaz arrived, he witnessed Pager leaving the apartment and yelling at two female paramedics who were behind a vehicle while allegedly pointing a handgun.

Diaz testified he eventually used a Taser on Pager, who he said was repeatedly warned to drop the weapon and cooperate. As Pager continued to fail to comply, Diaz testified, he attempted to use the Taser two more times because the probes were still in contact with Pager's body.

At that point, according to the statement, Pager made his first unprovoked statement that he had killed his entire family, prompting investigators to run into the house and find Taylor Albert lying on the couch with a shot in the face. There was no one else in the house, the officer explained.

Weirton Detective Jeff Miller testified about Pager's first 911 call, in which the man did not know his home address, and Miller said dispatchers overheard an unknown woman in the background telling him the 911 number 15 minutes before police and EMS finally responded .

Miller said that during Pager's interrogation by Miller and Lt. Brian Beatty asked Pager if he shot Albert when he remembered doing so. Under cross-examination, Miller told Nicholas Yovich, the public defender assigned to Pager, that his client appeared lucid when questioned five hours after the incident.

During his time on the stand, Weirton Police Detective Randy Kernen explained the items presented as evidence in Pager's case, including a bullet fragment, a holster and a 9mm magazine with a bullet still in the chamber.

Investigators also found a Sharpie-brand writing instrument with the top removed and, elsewhere, psilocybin mushrooms that Pager claimed he and Albert had consumed the night before; and a notebook with an unsigned confession: “I killed my family”; “Help me” and “Save me” are on separate pages, according to Kernen’s statement.

District Attorney Steven Dragisich reminded Fletcher that Pager reportedly admitted guilt in Albert's fatal shooting three times during his interaction with investigators, including once after he was served a Miranda warning when he asked if he shot Albert, because he remembered it.

“He knows what he did,” Dragisich concluded, while Yovich maintained that there was no witness testimony of domestic discord between the 911 call and the arrival of first responders, nor any evidence of an argument.

The results of gunshot residue tests are not yet available and do not indicate whether Pager used the weapon or whether Albert's head wound may instead have been self-inflicted, the defense added.

“(The state) has not reached the limit to show intent and charge murder,” Yovich claimed.

Pager was returned to the West Virginia Northern Regional Jail, where he remains held without bail.