Published: January 23, 2008 09:32 pm         

Anawalt murder: Suspect to return to W.Va.

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A man charged with the stabbing death of a 71-year-old Anawalt resident waived extradition to West Virginia during a hearing Wednesday morning in a North Carolina court.

Robert Wayne Johnson Jr. has been jailed in Burke County, N.C., since his arrest Sunday afternoon for the first-degree murder of Joe Mallory, Trooper M.S. Horton, with the Welch Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, said.

“He wants to come back. That’s what he’s looking forward to, the way I understand it,” Horton said Wednesday, following the morning hearing in Burke County.

Although Johnson and Mallory apparently knew each other, Horton said he is unaware of any incident that had taken place between the two men that would have led to an altercation.

Horton said Johnson is a resident of North Carolina, but his parents live three-tenths of a mile from Mallory in the O’Toole section of Anawalt.

“He (Johnson) was just here visiting with his mom and dad,” Horton said. “I think he was going to make the permanent move here,” but after allegedly committing the crime he left and went back to North Carolina.

Horton said Johnson’s father, Robert Johnson Sr., and Mallory had just completed a deal on the sale of a firearm, but there was no indication of trouble or problems between the two men.

Mallory was stabbed in the living room of his home some time in the early morning hours on Sunday, Jan. 20, Horton said.

“I didn’t see any type of sign of a struggle,” Horton said. However, the trooper said the autopsy on the victim showed “multiple, multiple stabbings.”

A motive for the crime is still unclear, Horton said. “Actually, between the suspect and the victim, I don’t know of any incident that had taken place that would have caused this.

“I’m anxious to talk with Robert Johnson Jr. to see what he can tell me, or what he will tell me,” he said.

Horton said officials were tipped off from Johnson’s ex-wife in North Carolina.

“He had went to her house and told her he killed a man in Anawalt, W.Va., and at that time she telephoned his step-mother in Anawalt,” Horton said. “He (Johnson) just said, ‘He cut a man and his last name is Mallory.’ ’’

Johnson’s step-mother contacted state troopers in McDowell County and expressed her concern. “She said she was worried and we needed to go check on him (Mallory).”

Horton and Trooper J.W. Keffer responded to Mallory’s home where they found the victim.

“From the investigation, I learned that he had left this area (Sunday), going back to North Carolina with the intention to kill another man,” Horton said. “Once we found the body of the victim (Mallory), we contacted the Burke County Sheriff’s Department and had them go over and detain him.”

McDowell officials issued an arrest warrant for Johnson, and he was arrested by Burke deputies around 4 p.m. Sunday.

Johnson is currently incarcerated at the Burke-Catawba District Confinement Facility in Morganton, N.C. Morganton is located about 10 to 15 miles west of Hickory, N.C.

Horton said officials in North Carolina did check on the individual in North Carolina Johnson allegedly was planning to kill, and he was OK.

Authorities are currently working to transfer the pickup truck Johnson drove to North Carolina to the West Virginia State Crime Lab for analysis.

Horton said officials expect to bring Johnson back to McDowell Coundy to face charges later this week.



Samantha Perry writes for the Bluefield (W.Va.) Daily Telegraph.