CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Two inmates indicted by a federal grand jury on first degree murder and assault charges could face the death penalty.
Michael Owle, 29, an inmate at USP Hazelton, and Ruben Laurel, 39, of USP Hazelton, are both facing one count each of first degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in connection to a 2012 stabbing death at the federal prison in Preston County.
Owle and Laurel are accused of stabbing two other inmates on August 29, 2012, resulting in the death of 31-year-old Anthony M. Dallas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of West Virginia filed the intent to seek the death penalty in court Wednesday.
According to a release from the Attorney’s Office, Owle and Laurel have been previously convicted of two or more felonies, acted in a premeditated fashion, and caused death in an “especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen L. Vogrin and Robert H. McWilliams, Jr., are prosecuting the cases on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated.