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Do you find yourself searching for a true crime podcast focused on West Virginia?

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Well, I have you covered. I'm Mark Covey, the host and creator of Mountain State Mysteries,

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where every Friday my co-host Courtney and I tell you about one of West Virginia's coldest

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unsolved cases. Tune in to Mountain State Mysteries on your favorite podcast platform.

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Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is advised. I'm your host Mark, and this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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The case I have for you today is about a 16 year old who got mad at his parents and ended up

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killing his entire family. This is the case of Jerry Ball. On January 28th, 1983, Betty Ball and

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her children were doing what most families did in the 1980s. They were watching television as a

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family. Harold Ball was in the other room taking a nap. The Balls lived off Dry Hill Road in Beckley,

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West Virginia, and they sounded like a picture perfect family. That is, until that chilly January

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day. Their oldest child Jerry asked his mom if he could go hang out with some friends at the

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old Hex shopping center parking lot. She told Jerry no. His family never saw what was coming that night.

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Jerry says he took a baseball bat and struck his mother in the head. Then he went up to his father

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and his two younger brothers. Stephen, who was 11, and Richard, who was 6. He took turns striking

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them with the baseball bat multiple times, murdering all of them. Jerry dragged each of the bodies

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into his parents' room and took the mattress off the bed to cover up the bodies. In the autopsy

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reports, it says Harold was the only one who tried to defend himself. When the West Virginia

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State Police asked Jerry why he dragged the bodies into his parents' bedroom, he said he didn't know

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why. Jerry later confessed to his motive, quote, I guess because my mom kept cussing me and jumping

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on me. In quote, he told authorities that by jumping on him, he basically meant that she

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just cussed him. He also confessed to using a.22 caliber pistol to shoot his mother. According to

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the state medical examiner, all four sustained multiple blunt force injuries to the head.

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Betty was shot once in the back of the head. Jerry said, quote, I hit all of them four or five times

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or maybe more than that. I didn't count. In quote, John Price, a family friend whose boy saw Jerry

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the night of the murders, said his son closest to Jerry was completely flabbergasted by the murders.

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The psychiatric reports said Jerry was a schizophrenic abuse child. Jerry's legal team

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argued that the murders occurred due to his abusive childhood. However, the neighbors would

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disagree with this statement. Dr. Shevert Frazier, chairman of the Department of Psychology at Harvard,

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told Marion County Circuit judge Fred Fox, the second Jerry committed the killings in a blind

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rage and that the 16-year-old teen was unable to control his rage. However, a psychologist at the

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lake in prison said Jerry demonstrated no psychosis and displayed a good grasp of reality.

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They also said the teen understood the wrongfulness of his actions from that night. In the psychiatric

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reports, it also indicated that Jerry was not mentally handicapped. Larry Earl, the psychologist

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for Raleigh County Schools, was Jerry's baseball coach for two years. Earl said that Jerry did not

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have discipline problems and he never got into fights. Instead, Jerry was the opposite. Earl

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recalled Jerry getting along with his siblings and said that Jerry carried around his youngest brother

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Richard like he was a second dad. Jerry was indicted on four counts of murder. He was given

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four life sentences to be served consecutively. Jerry was tried as an adult in November of 1985.

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The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ordered Jerry to be sent to the Anthony Center for youthful

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offenders. The West Virginia Supreme Court decided the court has authority under West Virginia Code

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to sentence a person who commits a homicide while a minor to the Anthony Center for youthful male

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offenders even though he was sentenced as an adult. Jerry has since been transferred to a

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maximum security penitentiary in West Virginia. He is still serving life in prison today.

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Stay tuned for a new episode coming out next week. If you find yourself enjoying Mountain

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State Mysteries, take a second to follow, download, and rate us on your favorite podcast platform. It

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helps others find good true crime podcasts. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram,

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TikTok, and Facebook all at Mountain State Mysteries. Do you have a case you want us to cover?

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Send us an email at MountainStateMysteries304 at gmail.com.

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For the show notes, check out our website, MountainStateMysteriesPodcast.com.

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Thank you.

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you