DOUBLE HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION LEADS TO DRUG ARREST - Cash "May Have Been Involved" In Calhoun Murders, Says State Police Complaint

(05/09/2009)
A Calhoun man has been arrested on drug charges resulting from the investigation of the murders of Mike and Julie Flanagan on Easter weekend.

WV State Police have arrested 38-year-old John Franklin Cash on seven charges of delivering a controlled substance.

State Trooper F. L. Hammack says, in the criminal complaint, that Cash was arrested on the drug charges as a result of a statement made (about the murders) by an unidentified person during the police's murder investigation.

That person, says Hammack, claims Cash made statements that suggested he (Cash) may have been involved in the murders.

Hammack said the investigation led him to Laurel, Mississippi, where he and Sgt. T. C. Bledsoe interviewed several subjects.

Hammack said, "One such subject was Tauren Ray, also known as "T", who stated that he, John Cash, and Michael Pierce traveled to Calhoun County to sell marijuana that John had to get rid of."

"Mr. (Tauren) Ray stated that Mr. Cash left he (Ray) and Mr. (Michael) Pierce at the Grandview Motel in Spencer for several days," Hammack continued.

At this juncture in the complaint, Trooper Hammack describes drug buying incidents and names a number of Calhoun residents who gave statements to the State Police, saying they purchased marijuana and meth from John Cash.

Based on the statements of the individuals who purchased the drugs, Cash's arrest was made for delivery of a controlled substance, seven counts.

Cash is being held in Central Regional Jail on $105,000 bond.