Man found guilty of killing, dismembering woman

UPDATE 10/14/22 @ 5:55 p.m.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A man accused of murdering and dismembering a woman in September 2017 has been found guilty Friday evening, our crew at the Cabell County Courthouse said.

Argie Jeffers had taken the stand in his own defense earlier in the day Friday.

Jeffers stands convicted of killing Carrie Jo Worrell Wood. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a deceased human body. The trial has been going on throughout the week at the Cabell County Courthouse.

It took the jury a little more than an hour to deliberate and convict Jeffers on both charges.

Investigators found body parts in a bucket, and another body part near where the Guyandotte River flows into the Ohio River in Huntington.

We will have more on this developing story. Keep checking the WSAZ app for the latest, including when the sentencing date will be.

ORIGINAL STORY

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A man accused of murdering and dismembering a woman in September of 2017 took the stand in his murder trial Friday.

Argie Jeffers is accused of killing Carrie Jo Worrell Wood in September of 2017.

Thursday, the judge and jury in the trial against Jeffers heard from more witnesses, including Huntington Police Detective Steve Fitz.

Fitz, was on the boat search investigating the body parts found near where the Guyandotte meets the Ohio River. In his testimony, Fitz recalled seeing a swarm of vultures in the area.

“Before even getting off the boat, we found what we later determined to be a human pelvis lying at the waterline,” he said.

Detectives found various buckets of body parts in that area in September 2017.

Before detectives were able to identify who the remains belonged to, police were called to a car wash on 17th Street in Huntington in February 2018.

Jeffers’ grandson Jeremy is seen on surveillance video taking buckets from the business’ dumpster that Jeffers was seen putting there an hour earlier.

Jeffers’ grandson called 911 after finding body parts in the buckets.

“Jeremy Jeffers just called about body parts found at the car wash,” said a dispatcher on a 911 call shown in court as evidence.

Jeffers showed up on the scene when police arrived, and Detective Fitz testified to having probable cause to arrest Jeffers for concealment of a body based on what Jeremy found.

The court also heard from one of Wood’s former coworkers, Kaylane Hannon, who knew Wood lived with Jeffers around the time she died.

Hannon was asked how Wood categorized Jeffers to her coworkers.

Abusive, sexually and verbally,” Hannon said.

Hannon was asked if Wood ever seemed excited to go home at night.

“Never,” Hannon replied.

Hannon said her friendship with Hannon was mostly just at work, but that she is missed by those who knew her.

“She was someone’s daughter. She was a mother. She was a human,” Hannon said. “She had every right to breathe just as much as anyone in this room. No one had any right to judge her or take her last breath but God himself.”

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