1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,680 Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:14,780 I'm your host Mark and this week I have an update for you on a case that we covered in 4 00:00:14,780 --> 00:00:17,000 season one of Mountain State Mysteries. 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:22,240 I know you're probably wondering where Courtney is but this week I'm on vacation and I knew 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:27,920 I had to bring you the newest updates on the case of Judy Petty from Parkersburg, West 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:28,920 Virginia. 8 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:08,920 Today I wanted to bring you a few updates on the case of Judy Petty. 9 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,320 Here's a quick recap on Judy's case before I get into the updates. 10 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:21,320 On Wednesday, February 6, 2008, around 5 p.m., 48-year-old Judith Petty, who also went by 11 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:27,520 Judy, left her grandmother's house to return a book and some DVDs to the local library. 12 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:34,280 Instead of driving, she decided to walk the 7 miles to the Wood County Library by 8 p.m. 13 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,600 when Judy had not returned, her family started to worry. 14 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:44,120 The Petty family contacted the local police department and started a search of their own. 15 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,680 Sadly that night, they couldn't find Judy. 16 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:52,560 Judy's remains were found two days later in the basement of a cellar on the family's 17 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,800 farm 13 miles away from her grandmother's house. 18 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,080 The house and the surrounding buildings burnt to the ground. 19 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,200 The fire was so hot that what started the fire is still unknown. 20 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,280 No one knows how or why Judy ended up on the family farm. 21 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,520 Not much is really known about the final hours of Judy's life. 22 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:19,680 What is known is that Judy was walking on Laurel Creek Road as the sun was setting. 23 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:24,360 Everyone knew that Judy loved to walk and that she preferred it over driving even though 24 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:25,640 she had a car. 25 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,280 Her family knew that she didn't have her cell phone and that she was a diabetic. 26 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,680 They were afraid that she had a hypoglycemic attack without any way of contacting them. 27 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:41,840 Around 10 p.m. Judy's family contacted the Parkersburg Police Department to file a missing 28 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,160 persons report. 29 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:48,160 They were told that they could not make a report until it's been 24 hours. 30 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,280 So with her family being told that, they decided to go out on their own and search for Judy. 31 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,240 Her father basically knew that was a direct route to the family farm. 32 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,520 So he concentrated his search to the east. 33 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,640 He drove by the farm and stopped but he didn't notice anything out of place at the gate. 34 00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:11,880 The next morning around 7 a.m. he drove back to the gate of the farm where he decided he 35 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,720 would try to drive up the driveway even though he knew it was muddy. 36 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,560 He parked his truck about halfway and decided to walk the rest. 37 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:24,280 When he got to the property he saw that the farmhouse and the cellar had been consumed 38 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:25,720 by fire. 39 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,160 He ran to a nearby house and dialed 911. 40 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,720 Not too long after Mr. Petty placed the call, units started to arrive to the scene. 41 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,240 The driveway was so muddy that the firefighters had to take a brush truck up the driveway 42 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:41,920 just to make it to the house. 43 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,960 They told the Petty's that they basically needed to let it burn before they could do 44 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:47,480 anything with the fire. 45 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:53,840 In chief Danny Goodwin with the Wood County Fire Investigation Team arrived, he said right 46 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,240 then and there that it would be hard to determine what started the fire. 47 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,240 On February 9th they started to search the grounds for any sign of Judy. 48 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:08,440 When they made it to the cellar they found the burnt remains of Judy, crawled up in the 49 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:31,040 corner just at the bottom of the steps. 50 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:36,360 Judy's remains were burned so bad that the only way authorities were able to identify 51 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,120 her were through her dental records. 52 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:45,520 Judy's autopsy showed that there was no carbon monoxide in her lungs, showing the medical 53 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:50,040 examiner that she was dead before the fire even started. 54 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,240 The medical examiner labeled Judy's death as extremely suspicious. 55 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:00,520 There isn't too many witnesses who saw Judy walking that night, however there were a few 56 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,680 who saw her. 57 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:08,520 Some witnesses saw Judy walking on Laurel Creek Road which they then think she took Alman 58 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,480 Hill Road and walked onto Jericho Road. 59 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,880 Here Judy accepted a ride from Chris. 60 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:20,880 If you remember in our season 1 finale, I said to me there wasn't a reason to mark Chris 61 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,400 off just yet. 62 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:46,360 However there is now a good reason to mark him off the list of suspects. 63 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:51,640 In today's update there is more information and a couple new suspects being added to the 64 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:52,640 list. 65 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,640 The first one is Mitchell Wright. 66 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:01,040 He was 24 years old in 2008 and his name was brought in by a source who mentioned Billy's 67 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,400 wrecking goss was Mitchell's uncle. 68 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:10,560 It's said that Billy told someone that Mitchell killed Judy and that his uncles helped cover 69 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:15,120 the crime up and threw Judy into the cellar and set it on fire. 70 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:20,400 In 2017 Mitchell died from an overdose on heroin. 71 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:26,920 Years prior Mitchell was in a bad car accident where they had to pin part of his hips to 72 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,520 his pelvis. 73 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:34,960 After that he started to get addicted to pain peels and in 2008 he was fully addicted to 74 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:35,960 peels. 75 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,160 In Parkersburg he was known as the thief. 76 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:43,560 It's said that Mitchell would drive around during the day and he would be looking for 77 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,720 places to steal things off of people's property. 78 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:53,160 He would then resell it just so that he could afford his pill addiction. 79 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:59,480 In 2008 Mitchell had a major change in his behavior to the point where him and his wife 80 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,120 ended up getting a divorce. 81 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:07,720 With all of this being said who's to say that Judy didn't walk up to the house because 82 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,760 it was cold that night and she was going to call her family to pick her up. 83 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:16,000 Who's to say that Mitchell wasn't on the property trying to steal something. 84 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,040 His uncle Billy was basically the neighbor to the petty farm. 85 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:26,760 Who's to say that he knew the petties weren't living there and that he knew it was safe 86 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:28,640 to steal. 87 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:34,640 To me this is all hearsay right now but there's three key elements in any crime. 88 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:40,440 Means, motive and opportunity and honestly Mitchell had them all. 89 00:07:40,440 --> 00:08:02,520 He could have had the chance to kill Judy. 90 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,040 The second name that has been brought up is one I've already mentioned in this episode 91 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:08,840 Billy Shrekengoss. 92 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,160 Billy lived.5 miles from the petty farm. 93 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,040 From Billy's farm you can get to the petty farm by some trails through the woods. 94 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:23,640 It's said Billy also had a crush on Judy and her sister so the petty family knew him without 95 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,040 him just being a neighbor to their farm. 96 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,560 It's said that Billy was also a regular at the Sundance bar. 97 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:35,800 He would also use some drugs and that he would be fine one minute then two had to function 98 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,200 the next. 99 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:42,320 People also said that Billy tried to make LSD in college and that they think it really 100 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:43,320 messed him up. 101 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,400 Billy was basically a loner and no one really wanted to interact with him. 102 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:53,520 The Sundance bar closed early the night of Judy's death and it was said that people remember 103 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:59,360 Billy being there and maybe he went to go get something somewhere else and ended up walking 104 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:05,720 into the woods to his farm and saw Judy there that night and tried to do something to her 105 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,520 and ended up killing her. 106 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:14,640 With this theory both Judy and Billy knew each other and Judy was always nice to him. 107 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:19,520 Maybe he realized she was there by herself and tried to take advantage of her. 108 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:25,120 Everyone said Billy was crazy from talking to himself to talking about aliens being in 109 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,200 his backyard. 110 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:32,400 But they also said he was extremely smart and that he could flip the crazy off like 111 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:33,400 a light switch. 112 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,840 It's also known that Billy stole from the Petty farm. 113 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:44,440 Mr. Petty actually remembers his sawmill being stolen and being found on Billy's property 114 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,640 and get this all of the stealing stopped after Judy died. 115 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,440 Did it stop because Billy didn't want to return to the scene of a crime? 116 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:59,260 He definitely can't say there wasn't anything to steal after the fires because from the 117 00:09:59,260 --> 00:10:03,920 crime scene pictures you can see that there was definitely a whole lot more. 118 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:26,680 In 2015 Billy committed suicide. 119 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:32,480 I realize that both of the people I mentioned in this update episode have passed away. 120 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,920 I realize I've thrown some of my own theories out there. 121 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:42,400 I also know that law enforcement in Parkersburg are taking another look into this case after 122 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,560 people have came forward with these names. 123 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:50,400 To me these are some of the strongest leads I've ever seen in this case. 124 00:10:50,400 --> 00:11:12,000 They could only get stronger from here. 125 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:19,080 If you or anyone you know has any information about the death of Judy Petty you can email 126 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:30,160 the confidential tip line tips at justiceforjudy.com. 127 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:38,200 Or you can call the confidential number 224-225-5208. 128 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,480 All tipsters are guaranteed confidential. 129 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:52,360 Tips can also be reported directly to the Wood County Sheriff's Tip Line at 304-834-3919. 130 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:57,840 Stay tuned for our next episode, The Murder of a Matriarch, where Courtney and I will 131 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,360 be back to tell you the story of Juliette Buffington-Inslow. 132 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:08,680 If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow, download, 133 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:13,320 share, and rate it on your favorite podcasting service. 134 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,360 It helps others find good True Crime podcasts. 135 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:23,560 Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and wherever you listen to podcasts, 136 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,720 all at Mountain State Mysteries. 137 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:51,720 For the show notes, check out our website, MountainStateMysteries.com.