Who was murdered in lock 4?

I read about a murder in the area the other night that really piqued my interest and I went down the rabbit hole. The murder was in 1858 and led to the first white man being legally hanged in Kanawha County. Late in the evening of Wednesday, January 20th, 1858 or early in the morning of Thursday, 21st, Mary Susan Turley was murdered by her husband Preston S. Turley. The couple were residents of the neighborhood around lock 4 in what is now Alum Creek, this was way before Alum Creek or even Rome, wv. Susan was found the following Monday night about midnight, which was almost ten years exactly since her and Preston were married. The river had been dragged for quite a distance from their house, which sat almost directly on the riverbank. Preston, who was in bed at his father's house, about a mile away, was immediately arrested.It was said that he left his house when they started dragging the river. His initial claim that she drowned herself was disproved by the 69-pound rock that was tied to her neck. She had severe wounds over her eye and cheek, there was a contusion on her shoulder of the same side and her neck was supple as if it were broken. The next day, a physician confirmed that her neck was broken. Then Mr. Turley changed his story to she hanged herself and he threw her in the river, fearing he would get the blame. The details are unclear from here, but I know Mr. Turley eventually wrote a confession and at at some point he escaped the jail in Charleston and was apprehended by residents and took back to the jail. Moundsville penitentiary was open at the time, so I'm not sure why he wasn't sent there after he was found guilty. He was taken right across the river to where it sounds like the intersection of Maccorkle avenue and Corridor G is now. The executioner was Sheriff John Slack. At approximately 12:05pm on Sept. 17th, 1858 Preston was hanged. A lot of his family were present. From what I read Preston was buried in a family cemetery that has since been dozed and built over. It’s not known exactly where Susan is buried, records aren’t clear on that. All I know is that she was buried on the banks of the coal river near where she was found. Susan was aprox. 30 years old and Preston was aprox. 36.

Update 10-4-25

Its probably worth mentioning that at one time, Preston was a Baptist preacher 

 

Photo sourced from findagrave.com- this was the best looking newspaper clipping I could find about the murder. 

 Sources 

Preston S. Turley (1822-1858), wikitree.com Susan Mary West Turley (about 1828-1858) wikitree.com Preston Turley hanging for murder, browngenealogy. wordpress.com