Buckhannon man charged with attempted murder | News, Sports, Jobs

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BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man has been charged with attempted murder following a stabbing incident in Buckhannon on Wednesday.

Benjamin Ira Casto, 31, of Buckhannon, is charged with attempted murder. He is being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $1 million bail.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Patrolman Wade Loudin of the Buckhannon Police Department, a man named Daniel Percell came to the police department on Wednesday “with three stab wounds in the back”, One of them is on the bottom left of his back and the other two are in the middle of his back.

Percell said he was stabbed “by a strong guy in Jawbone Park”, and was transported by Upshur County Emergency Medical Services for treatment, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, police identified Casto from surveillance footage from Jawbone Park. Police visited Casto at his apartment and he said his friend and Percell “got into a physical altercation” and he separated them. Casto allegedly said Percell then “He wanted to go after his friend and then stabbed him.”

The lawsuit states that surveillance camera footage shows Casto's friend Isaac William McCartney “He approached Percell and threw him to the ground. While McCartney was on top of Percell, Casto kicked Percell. McCartney had just gotten up and backed away from the altercation when Casto pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Percell three times in the back.”

The “black and blue twisted” Knife was about 6 inches long and “intended to pierce and twist to cause serious bodily harm”, so the complaint.

Casto was taken into custody and transported to the Buckhannon Police Department for processing and then to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

While investigating the stabbing attack, Loudin viewed surveillance footage that showed Isaac McCartney and Korena Sue McCartney's two children sleeping on a park bench at the time of the stabbing attack, the complaint states. An officer entered the McCartneys' Buckhannon apartment to confiscate the weapon used in the stabbing attack, and while inside, “discovered garbage all over the house.”

The McCartneys had “allowed Benjamin Casto, a known sex offender, to live in the residence,” the complaint states. Police photos taken inside the residence show “the condition of the house is unsuitable for residential purposes”, with “Garbage and animal droppings throughout the apartment.” Korena McCartney is said to have told the police that there was no electricity in the apartment.

Isaac William McCartney and Korena Sue McCartney have both been charged with child neglect. Both are being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $300,000 bail.