Groundhog For Breakfast

In June 1980 the small town of Elizabeth, West Virginia, in the hills of the northern panhandle, was the setting for a day-long quarrel that turned into a running gunfight and a killing. Robert Andrew Williams, who called himself Robert Lilly or Bob Lilly, lived in a cabin off Oxbow Road in Ritchie County and made what money he could by collecting junk and hauling it to Parkersburg to sell. In March 1980 he met Austin Wayne Ledsom at Kyle's Tavern in Elizabeth, and the two became friends and partners in that scavenging trade.

On the night of Friday, 6 June 1980 Ledsom stayed at Lilly's house. The next morning the pair had groundhog for breakfast, then decided to take the day off from scrapping and go fishing. On the way out of the hollow they stopped at the cabin of a man named Red, who offered them a milk jug filled with grape juice and vodka. They drank it, drove into Elizabeth for more alcohol, and found a party in progress at a neighbour's house on Oxbow Road. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

In the tavern car park Lilly called over a young woman named Glenda Roush and gave her a drink of the vodka and grape juice, now carried in an empty wine bottle. this part of the story is covered for now Lilly denied it and said he wanted no trouble. details of the account remain covered until revealed Lilly replied that they had big mouths and nothing to back it up. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Glenda Roush briefly took the pistol and Lilly took it back. details of the account remain covered until revealed

Lilly and Ledsom drove back to Lilly's house, where his girlfriend Candice Rohey was at home. Lilly showed her the wound, searched the house, found a single round, loaded the pistol and fired it into the china cabinet. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed Ledsom went in to buy shells and discovered that a petrol station does not sell ammunition. On Route 47 Ash weaved his truck across the road to stop them passing and Lilly rammed him from behind. Ash turned onto Oxbow Road but got stuck in the mud; by the time Lilly ran up the road on foot he had freed the truck and driven away. Lilly pulled the damaged bonnet off his own truck, threw it over the hill, and drove to McCauley's store, where Ledsom told the clerk not to sell Lilly any shells because someone might get hurt. At a friend's house Lilly obtained a box of .22 hollow-point rounds, loaded the pistol, test-fired it into a tree and set off again.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Glenda Roush saw him leave the tavern carrying the rifle and put it behind the seat of the truck. He calmed down, and he, Ash and Roush drove to Ash's house to drink and eat. They turned onto Oxbow Road and up the private road beside Glen Johnson's cabin, where they stopped and blocked the one-lane track. Lilly and Ledsom pulled in behind them.

What followed was a shootout at about twelve feet. Witnesses disagreed about who fired first: one heard the high-powered rifle first, another the smaller gun. Ash was wounded in the arm and got into the house. A shot through the windscreen struck Ledsom in the side of the head and he spilled the box of shells. Lilly, wounded, retreated down the hill. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Lilly died of a bullet wound to the centre of the forehead, with further wounds to his left leg and left foot; the fatal wound was made from six to eight inches away, apparently by high-powered copper-jacketed ammunition.

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it