Two Beckley men who were employed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation have been arrested in connection with the burning of a former governor’s home.
David W. Cole, 30, and Billy R. Workman Jr., 24, were arrested and charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy for their alleged role in burning down an unoccupied house in Beckley where the state’s former governor, Hulett Smith, once lived. Hulett died in 2012. Gov. Jim Justice’s family currently owns the house.
In a statement, Robert Cunningham, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security, said the men were employees of Southern Regional Jail at the time of their arrests, but their employment has since been terminated.
The Southern Regional Jail has a troubled history. In November 2023, six former corrections officers at the facility were charged by a federal grand jury in connection with the death of an inmate.
The indictment alleges that all six defendants conspired to cover up the use of unlawful force by omitting material information and providing false and misleading information to investigators.
There were 13 reported deaths at the Southern Regional Jail in 2022, and more than 100 deaths in the state’s regional jail system in the past decade.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the Mabscott Fire Department responded to the fire on Oct. 20.
Mabscott Fire Department Chief, Tim Zutaul, made a request for a fire investigation to the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Hotline.
Officers assigned to investigate learned Cole was spotted in the vicinity of the fire, leading them to check the surveillance footage at the Go-Mart at 2100 Harper Road in Beckley.
According to the criminal complaint, the footage shows the two men purchasing brake fluid and beer on the night of the fire.
On Oct. 25, Cole was brought into the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office for a voluntary interview.
Authorities say he confessed to officers that he and Workman entered the structure, but he was the one who poured brake fluid into a styrofoam plate on the floor of the residence and then lit the plate on fire with a lighter he’d brought with him.
The men left the area in Workman’s vehicle but returned to park at a nearby tobacco shop where Cole recorded a video of the fire on his cell phone.
According to a press release, Cole was arrested on the evening of Oct. 25 by officers with the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office. He was arraigned on Oct. 26 in Raleigh County Magistrate Court where his bond was set at $100,000. He remains in custody at the regional jail.
Workman turned himself in to officers on Oct. 28 at Raleigh County Magistrate Court where his bond was set at $100,000. Workman was originally transported to Southern Regional Jail but has since been released on bond.