PHILIPPI, W.Va. — A man suspected of murder in Barbour County near a well known landmark is in custody after an all night manhunt.
Michael Mussi of Elkins, W.Va. was taken into custody shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday along Route 57 in the Beech Creek community of Barbour County.
“Following the tips we put out, somebody called and said they saw somebody matching the description of our suspect walking along Route 57 coming into Philippi,” said Lt. Dustin Cale of the Philippi Police Department.
Deputy Cole Whited of the Barbour County Sheriff’s Department was the first to arrive to investigate the tip and realized the person was Mussi. He was still armed with a handgun and had it pointed under his chin threatening to take his own life. White was able to calmly talk Mussi out of the plan and to put down the weapon and took him into custody peacefully.
“I really want to commend him, that was a great job of handling that,” said Cale.
Mussi is charged with the Friday evening murder of Tanner Talbott of Belington, W.Va. Talbott was found shot in the Blue and Gray Flag Park next to the Philippi Covered Bridge around 5 p.m. Friday. Witnesses identified Mussi as the shooter and told police he fled the area in a dark colored pickup truck with a dog box in the bed.
Law enforcement across the region spent all of Friday night on a manhunt for Mussi and following up numerous tips to 911.
When asked about a motive for the crime, Cale would say only it was an “infidelity ordeal.”
Mussi is due for arraignment in Barbour County Magistrate Court and will be lodged in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail facing a charge of first degree murder.