The Kanawha County prosecuting attorney on Wednesday dismissed a first-degree murder indictment against a man who killed himself while his trial was underway this week.
"It's the least I can do for his family," Prosecuting Attorney Charles Miller said about dismissing the charge against Scott Meador, who was accused of killing Glen Alfred Carpenter Jr. in December 2015, while the men worked at a shuttered Jefferson strip club.
Meador, 40, had decided Tuesday night he would take the stand and testify on what would have been the fourth day of his trial, his lawyer Jim Cagle told the judge at about 8:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Meador never showed up to the courthouse Wednesday morning. He had posted bail and been on home confinement since last April.
When Meador's monitoring bracelet showed he was at home, Meador's father, Eddie Meador, left the courthouse to check on his son, Miller said.
Meador's father found his son dead at home, the prosecutor said. Meador had used a plastic bag to cut off his air supply, Miller said police told him. Asphyxiation was determined to be the initial cause of death.
Meador's mother, Nancy Meador, still was in the courtroom Wednesday morning. One of Meador's friends arrived to inform her of her son's death. Meador's parents had attended every day of their son's trial.
"Two families have now lost a son," Miller said. "No one likes to see someone lose a child."
Carpenter's family, who were in the courtroom Wednesday when Meador's death was discovered, were sympathetic to Meador's parents, the prosecutor said.
Jurors on Tuesday had viewed video from inside the Foxy Lady club on the night Carpenter, 50, was killed.
"I think it was a significant piece of evidence," said Miller. "It showed the defendant leaving the room, holding a gun, where the victim was killed."
The prosecutor said Meador could be seen going back into the room with a knife.
Carpenter was shot in the head and stabbed 18 times, prosecutors told jurors.
Cagle told jurors Meador had acted in self defense. Meador, who was working on the club's surveillance system the night of the killing, had previously given the club's owner video footage showing two of his employees breaking into a vending machine, among other things. Those men were subsequently fired and Meador believed they were planning to retaliate against him and that Carpenter was in on their plan. Miller has said there's no evidence of that.
Cagle had been planning to tell jurors that Meador had a heightened fear of being assaulted, as he had been the victim of a robbery and stabbing in 2008.
Miller said he hadn't planned to object to Cagle raising that claim, but that he had told the judge he didn't believe Cagle should be allowed to show jurors video of Meador lying on the ground after the 2008 attack. Cagle also wanted to enter into evidence the police report from the incident and information about the case against the man who pleaded guilty to assaulting Meador.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman hadn't yet ruled on Miller's objection Tuesday, but Miller said it appeared the judge was leaning toward agreeing with the prosecutor.
"It wasn't so dramatic that it gutted his defense," Miller said Wednesday afternoon. Meador "seemed to be OK when we left yesterday evening."
Cagle couldn't be reached Wednesday for comment. The prosecutor said Meador had been at his lawyer's office until about 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Lee Lewis, who had been friends with Meador more than 20 years, said Wednesday afternoon that Meador was extremely remorseful about Carpenter's death.
"Scott had a lot of grief and whatnot for the simple fact he took another man's life," Lewis said. "When they first put him in jail he was on suicide watch because of the things he had said. Remorse got to him. Why he went down this road, nobody knows that answer. There's no reason to try and to speculate."
Lewis said Meador was the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back. He described him as a trusted friend.
"If anything, people need to know he was not a cold-blooded killer. He was a good-hearted person," Lewis said.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.