MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Mercer County man was arrested for attempting to murder a man.
Deputies responded to a call at Sherwood Apartments in Princeton on May 22, 2021, around 2:25 am about a possible burglary.
As deputies arrived on the scene, they located the victim, Christopher Cardwell. Cardwell was covered in blood in front of his apartment. He told deputies that two men entered his apartment and beat him.
Cardwell told deputies that he heard a knock on the door while he and his son were watching television. He opened the door and saw suspect Jesse Duff. Duff swung, and the two began to fight. The suspect, Randall Lawless, entered the apartment to help Duff by choking Cardwell.
“Duff and Lawless got Cardwell on the floor, and Lawless had Cardwell by the throat, choking him to the point he couldn’t breathe,” stated the report.
Cardwell, on the floor, grabbed and discharged his firearm, shooting two times. He wasn’t sure if he hit anyone because the suspects continued to fight him. Cardwell’s son pleaded to the suspects to let his father go. One of the suspects stated that after they killed Cardwell, they were going to kill his son.
Eventually, Cardwell was able to break free of the suspects and went outside to alert his neighbor. Both suspects fled the apartment.
According to a neighbor, the suspects fled to the back of the building. One deputy recalled seeing a vehicle fleeing from the parking lot. They attempted to locate the car but were not successful.
Deputies investigated and gathered evidence in the apartment. They found blood on the floor, blood on the blinds, a 9mm shell casing, a High Point 9mm semi-automatic pistol, blood and spit on two tenant’s vehicles, and a trail of blood trailing from Cardwell’s apartment to the rear parking lot.
According to Cardwell, he was in a relationship with Jesse Duff’s wife, Jessica Duff. The couple had been spilt-up for about three months.
“He believed that Jesse Duff was ok with the relationship, but on May 21 and May 22, he [Duff] had been texting threats,” stated the report.
Duff sent Cardwell threatening text messages on May 21 and on May 22, hours before the incident.
“…I tried to be a friend to you, and you try and move in on my wife! I promise I’ll see you soon…you prob (probably) won’t see it coming tho (though),” Duff said in a text to Cardwell.
Authorities searched for Duff and Lawless when they were advised that a gunshot victim had arrived at Princeton Community Hospital by a personal vehicle. The hospital told deputies that the car had fled after dropping the suspect off, identified as Duff.
Duff was arrested on June 15, 2021. He is charged with malicious assault, assault during the commission of a felony, conspire to inflict injury upon another, burglary, and attempt to commit a felony of 1st-degree murder. He is being held under a 50,000 dollar bond.
