UPDATE: 10/1 @ 1:30pm
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The first degree murder case against a Mingo County man has been bound over to a grand jury.

Roger Stroud agreed to waive his preliminary hearing and send the case directly to a grand jury during a hearing Thursday morning.

His lawyers and the prosecution also agreed to share discovery evidence.

The Kermit man is charged with shooting and killing his estranged wife Michelle last week, then stuffing her body in a refrigerator and dumping it down a hillside in a rural part of Mingo County.

Prosecutor Mike Sparks said earlier this week that the next grand jury to look at this case would meet in January.

Roger Stroud remains in jail without bond.

During a hearing in court Tuesday, lawyers for Stroud agreed to have the case bound over to a grand jury.

Stroud is 39 years old and from Kermit. He is charged with shooting and killing his estranged wife Michelle, then stuffing her body in a refrigerator and dumping it in the woods.

Stroud remains in jail without bond. His preliminary hearing is set for Thursday morning.

Roger Stroud is charged with the shooting death of his wife, Michelle, last week.

Sheriff's deputies found her body stuffed in a refrigerator in the Newsome Ridge area near Kermit last Tuesday.

She disappeared after dropping her son off at school Monday morning.

Investigators say he confessed to shooting her several times after they got into an argument.

Stroud’s preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but was postponed after defense attorneys asked to review some evidence collected by prosecutors.

Stroud’s attorney tells WSAZ.com he expects the case to be waived to a grand jury during Thursday’s scheduled preliminary hearing.

At a very early arraignment, Roger Stroud pleaded not guilty to murder and concealment of a deceased human body. Even though deputies say Stroud confessed to shooting and killing his estranged wife Michelle earlier this week.

People throughout the area are still in shock and disbelief over Michelle’s tragic death.

Former coworkers displayed a single yellow rose in Michelle’s now empty chair at the Mingo County Health Department. Many say even though Michelle only worked there for a few days before her death, she made a lasting impression.

“She was bubbly and sweet and everybody liked her. I only wish I had got to know her better,” said former coworker Lisa Heflin.

There is also an empty chair in the Mingo County Sheriff’s Office, where the chief deputy and a lead investigator in the murder, says a well liked Michelle Stroud worked for seven months.

“She did her job well. She filed out the epo’s and called the 911 center,” said Chief Deputy, J.M. Smith.

Smith agrees it’s sadly ironic that he knew about the emergency protective order Michelle first filed, then dropped against Roger Stroud, the man she was getting ready to divorce, but the chief deputy says Michelle didn’t discuss the extent of the problem.

“We knew they were having a bit of trouble but it never got to the point that she said it was violent,” the chief deputy said.

Chief Smith also has known Roger Stroud since school days together at the old Kermit High and says Stroud was a mild mannered regular guy until 2007 when he was in the midst of an ugly divorce with his first wife.

“I don’t know why, just that the entire community is in shock and awe over it,” he said.

Chief Deputy Smith says Roger Stroud works as a supervisor for Massey Coal and makes a very good living.

The chief says Stroud was building a new house for him and his first wife and lost that house in the divorce.

As to the murder the chief says Roger Stroud shot Michelle five times, emptying his 357 revolver.

Chief Smith also said that Michelle was not tied up inside the refrigerator that was dumped down a ridge side. Investigators say that refrigerator was given to the couple as a wedding present by Michelle’s father.

Roger Stroud remains in jail without bond. His preliminary hearing is set for Tuesday, September, 29th.

An aunt of Michelle "Vadie" Stroud said the refrigerator in which her body was found was something her father had given the couple. Stroud confessed to the murder on Wednesday.

Mingo County Sheriff's deputies said Roger Stroud took his wife to a remote area, and the two got into an argument. Sheriff's deputies said Roger Stroud then put on jersey gloves, got his revolver and shot his wife several times.

Then, he put her in the refrigerator and tried to push it over Newsome Ridge. Family members said it didn't go over the ridge; it became lodged on a tree branch, and that's how they were able to find her.

Meanwhile, Roger Stroud has a violent history, and this isn't the first time he has faced charges. In three separate cases in 2007, he's had domestic battery, assault and a violation of a protective order -- all of those charges were dropped.

In one, the victim didn't show up for the case. In another, the victim asked for the charges to dismissed. Why one set of charges was dropped wasn't clear, according to the prosecutor.

Ironically, Vadie worked in the sheriff's department -- inputting domestic violence orders at one point. Vadie, who was only 29, leaves behind a son.

According to the criminal complaint, 39-year-old Roger Stroud drove his wife, (Vadie) Michelle Stroud, to a remote location at Kermit Coal on Monday, where the two started arguing.

Roger Stroud told investigators that he then walked back to his truck, put on a pair of jersey gloves, got his .357 revolver, and shot Vadie Michelle several times.

The complaint says that Roger Stroud then loaded his wife's body into a white refrigerator, which was already in the bed of his truck. He then dumped the refrigerator over a hill at Newsome Ridge.

Family members reported Vadie Michelle missing when she didn't come home after dropping her son off at school Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. Her car was found parked along Route 52 in East Kermit.

Volunteers starting searching for her and eventually found her at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. Later in the evening, the Mingo County Sheriff's Department arrested Roger in connection with the murder. He's charged with first degree murder and concealment of a deceased human body. He is expected to make an initial appearance via video conference from the Southern Regional Jail Wednesday.

Vadie Michelle and her husband were going through a divorce, according to family members.

Family members told WSAZ.com that the two were in the process of getting a divorce.

Michelle's body was found by a family member at about 3:45 p.m. inside a refrigerator in a wooded area near Newsome Ridge, which is between Kermit and Dingess. Her family reported her missing when she didn't come home after dropping her son off at school Monday morning.

Her car was found about five miles from her her home in East Kermit.

Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more on this developing story.

For Michelle's mother, it was difficult to conceal the pain on her face -- even with a towel. Her 29-year-old daughter, who's also a mother, went missing Monday morning. Some 30 hours later, she was found dead -- stuffed in a refrigerator in a wooded area.

"They had to kill her because she's a fighter," Michelle's mother said.

Family and friends of Michelle say she dropped her child off at school at 8:30 a.m. Monday, then parked her car at the Heilig Meyers lot. That is where friends and family gathered Tuesday evening to remember Michelle.

Stroud's body was found in a refrigerator in that area -- known as Newsome Ridge. Several hours after the discovery, police still combed the woods for evidence.

As of late Tuesday night, there had not been any arrests made or any suspects identified. Family members did tell us that members of the Mingo County Sheriff's Department have been questioning several people.

30-year-old Michelle Stroud hadn't been seen since 8:30 a.m. Monday when she dropped her son off at school. Her car was found on Route 52 in East Kermit about 5 miles from her home.

Strouds mother says volunteers found her daughter's body in the Newsome Ridge area.

A family friend says Stroud was going through a divorce.

WSAZ has a crew on the way to the scene. Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.

Emergency Services Director Jarrod Fletcher tells WSAZ.com that 30-year-old Michelle Stroud hasn't been seen since she dropped her son off at school at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Stroud's car was found parked along Route 52 in the East Kermit area about five miles from her home.

Fletcher says Stroud has no history of running away or disappearing.

She's 5’ 3” tall, has blond hair and weighs about 120 pounds.

Anyone with information should contact Mingo County 911 center at (304) 235-8551 or the Mingo County Sheriff's Office at (304) 235-0300.