| By Bob Weaver
Ronnie Rush faced his accusers for a second day yesterday in Grantsville, charged with a gruesome double murder that occurred in May, 2003.
Evidence was entered that indicated Rush gave conflicting accounts regarding the murders.
State Police and Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Zia Saber, MD, spent much of the day giving evidence related to the crime scene where Ward Groves, 69, and his ex-wife Mary Hicks, 60, were found shot to death in their beds.
Dr. Saber said Groves died of a 20-gauge shotgun blast fired from 3-5 feet, entering behind his left ear and exiting in the middle of his forehead. Photos of exit pellets found against the wall and floor were presented by the State Police Crime Lab.
The Medical Examiner told jurors that Mary Hicks died from a 20-gauge shotgun wound to her left chest, fired at a distance of 6-7 feet.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Carl Ballengee testified that the Groves-Hicks house was dark except for one light in the kitchen, when he arrived with Sheriff Allen Parsons.
Deputy Ballengee said he and Sheriff Parsons were asked by Cpl. Doug Starcher to go to a nearby trailer belonging to Paul and Carol Rush and return Ronnie Rush to the murder scene.
Rush, who said he was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom of the Groves-Hicks house, had driven a GMC sport utility vehicle to his father's place to report the shootings to 911.
Deputy Ballengee testified he put his hand on the hood of the parked vehicle, saying it was "very warm," despite the short distance he had to drive.
Ballengee and Parsons discovered a roll of money, about $1000, behind the driver's seat of the vehicle, described as a plain-view discovery.
Ballengee testified he had never seen money wrapped in such a manner, the bills bent long-ways and tied with a heavy string.
Deputy Ballengee said he performed a gunshot residue test on Rush at the request of the State Police, saying Rush was rubbing his shoulder. He said he observed a red mark on his shoulder. "Trooper Starcher pointed out red spots on his (Rush's) face," said Ballengee.
Ballengee said he and Cpl. Starcher performed a "light test" at the house, in an attempt to validate statements made by Rush.
Cpl. Starcher told the court Tuesday that many of Rush's statements did not add up.
Ballengee said "It was total darkness and you could not see," in the rooms where the murders were committed.
Sgt. Jeff Cooper, who was the Grantsville detachment commander at the time, said he searched the Paul Rush trailer after he received consent from owner Paul Rush.
A neighbor and friend of Ward Groves testified that he heard a conversation between Ronnie Rush and Groves, where Rush was wanting to trade a rifle for a truck owned by Groves.
Groves, according to the witness, told the 16-year-old Rush he was too young for such a deal.
After the murders, authorities found items in a 1972 Chevy truck parked at the Groves-Hicks house allegedly taken from their dwelling, with Ronnie Rush reportedly having possession of the truck title.
There was over $200 in cash found in the truck under the seat and and a considerable amount of sorted change, said Cooper, who also discovered two rifles with a blanket over them on the truck seat. Other items were found in the truck that were once in the house.
Sgt. Cooper testified he discovered boxes in a ceiling space with cash in the amounts of $2,700 and $2,200.
After returning to Grantsville with Rush, Sgt. Cooper said he consulted with former prosecutor Tony Morgan regarding having enough evidence to charge Rush. He said he read Rush his Miranda Rights
A tape was played for the jurors, with Rush sobbing uncontrollably about the couples death.
On the tape Rush claims "Bobby Shamblin was threatening to kill somebody ... If I said anything, he'd kill me too ..."
Rush continued to give Sgt. Cooper his account of how Bobby Shamblin came into the darkened house, aroused Rush from sleep and made him go with him while Shamblin committed the murders. "He held a knife on me," said Rush.
"He woke me up with two guns in his hand," said Rush. "I didn't know what to do, I was scared to death."
This account was different from a statement Rush gave to Cpl. Starcher, saying two intruders came into the house and killed the couple, escaping in a car driving toward Arnoldsburg.
The tape apparently has Rush claiming Shamblin used Rush's shoulder as a gun rest to shoot the victims.
Rush told the officer Shamblin was upset because Ward cheated (in trading deals) too many times.
Rush then claims he went with Shamblin, the guns allegedly tossed into a creek.
Sgt. Cooper asked Rush why Shamblin didn't kill him. "I reckon he trusted me," he said.
Shamblin was initially charged with murder by the State Police, but was later released from Central Regional Jail after authorities apparently lacked evidence to place him at the crime scene.
Shamblin remains on bond, but is scheduled to appear in court in January. He has also been subpoenaed as a witness in the Rush trial.
Paul Rush, Ronnie Rush's father, was called to the witness stand, but appeared to have a memory lapse, although assistant prosecutor Frank Giggenbaugh, Jr. spent considerable time trying to refresh his memory.
Since the elder Rush gave sworn testimony last Spring, he could not remember his son's statement regarding Shamblin holding his son at knife-point while the crimes were committed.
Paul Rush did remember contacting authorities regarding the discovery of $2,732 under a liner in a trash can of his bathroom. Rush told the prosecutor his son did not go back to the bathroom the night of the murders, when he came to the house to call 911.
The case continues today, with a likely visit by jurors to the crime scene on Little Bear Fork along US 33-119 east of Sand Ridge. | 
