WURTLAND, Ky. — A Raceland, Ky., man was arraigned in a Kentucky courtroom this morning in the murder of former Chimacum resident Chadd E. Miller, 27, with a 9 mm handgun.
Beryl W. Smith, 33, was arraigned in Greenup County District Court on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree wanton endangerment for allegedly shooting Miller in Wurtland, Ky., District Court Deputy Clerk Melinda Lawson said.
Judge Brian McCloud set cash bail of $200,000 for Smith, and Smith was returned to the Greenup County Detention Center in Greenup.
A preliminary hearing is for Aug. 18 in District Court, where the case will likely be bound over to a grand jury, Greenup County Sheriff’s Deputy David Bocook said.
Smith allegedly shot Miller in the home of Amber Nolan while Miller and Nolan were in Nolan’s bedroom at about 3 a.m. Saturday.
Smith was arrested without incident at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, Bocook said.
Earlier report:
WURTLAND, Ky. — Authorities in this tiny Ohio River town are investigating the fatal shooting of a Chimacum resident over the weekend.
Sheriff’s deputies and media reports say Chadd E. Miller, 27, was shot dead in the tiny town of Wurtland, about 20 miles west of Huntington, W.Va., where the state lines for Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia come together.
Beryl W. Smith, 33, of Raceland, Ky., is scheduled to appear today at 9 a.m. in Greenup County Circuit Court in Greenup, Ky., Deputy Purdy Hensley said Sunday.
Smith will be arraigned on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree wanton endangerment, according to a statement from Greenup County Sheriff Keith M. Cooper.
Smith is being held without bail in the county detention center, Hensley said.
Miller, a 2000 Chimacum High School graduate, was a counter person for about five years at Westbay Auto Parts in Port Townsend until about two years ago, manager Kevin Amo said Sunday.
A phone number listed under Miller’s name in the 2009-2010 directory was disconnected.
Miller was shot multiple times and was found dead in the bedroom of a “frantic” woman who called 9-1-1 at 3:17 a.m. Saturday, Cooper said.
When deputies arrived at the woman’s home, Smith was standing in the middle of the road with an unspecified firearm and was arrested.
Cooper did not give a motive for the shooting.
No one answered phone calls placed Sunday at the Greenup County Sheriff’s Department and the Wurtland Police Department.
The deputy investigating the case was unavailable for comment Sunday, 9-1-1 dispatcher Kelly Cartegena said.
The last slaying in Wurtland, population about 1,000, was New Year’s Day, 2004, she said.
“It’s very, very small,” Cartegena said of the river town.
“They have a Dollar General [Store] but no theater around there or anything like that. Most of the people work at the [CSX] railroad, the steel mill or the oil refinery.”
The shooting “just shocked everybody,” Dollar General Store Michael Payne said.
“This is like a dead end in the road, probably two miles long and a mile wide,” he said, adding a nursing home is the only other commercial facility of any consequence other than his store.
“The elderly have been calling and asking, ‘Is it true? Is it safe?'”
The house where the shooting took place is behind Grubb’s Market, an abandoned store building about a mile south of the Dollar General.
“They are never used to having crime,” Payne said. “They are used to having one police officer.”
Miller was remembered by Chimacum High School staff as “a pretty quiet kid,” high school/junior high school Principal Wendy Meissner said Sunday.
“He wasn’t your athlete, but he was very smart.”
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Senior Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
