Trial begins for man charged with killing wife
A jury trial for a Greene County man charged with homicide for allegedly shooting his 17-year-old wife for not washing the dishes in July 2005 is set to begin tomorrow. James Russell Petrie, 27, of Graysville also faces charges of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person for allegedly killing his wife, Jessica Kathleen Marie Petrie, in their home on Chapman Road.
Attorney Brian L. Teslovich is representing Petrie.
The jury of 10 women and four men, including one male and one female alternate, were selected last week in Common Pleas Court in Greene County.
The trial will be before President Judge H. Terry Grimes.
State police at Waynesburg allege that Petrie shot his wife in the head with a .22-caliber rifle around 10:15 p.m. on July 7.
She was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., but died the following day.
Police said Petrie was watching TV in the living room when his wife sat down and started watching.
He allegedly asked her about some dishes that had not been washed from the day before and she said she was going to wash them.
Petrie then took the rifle, threatened to shoot her and then pulled the trigger, police said.
He remained at the house until emergency personnel arrived.
The couple had been married for just over a year.
Petrie has been incarcerated in the Greene County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond since his preliminary hearing in August.