| One of the three men originally charged in connection with the robbery, kidnapping and murder of Lewis Co. residents Maxine Stalnaker and Mary Friend in 1999, has been arrested on a new charge.
At the time, a search for the long missing women extended to all the regional counties.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Department has now charged David Hughes with conspiracy to commit the robbery of Stalnaker and Friend.
In the complaint, Hughes is accused of conspiring with Joseph Metz and Charles Stephen Freeman to rob Stalnaker and Friend. Hughes ordered Metz and Freeman to forcibly take a purse and its contents from Friend.
In Dec. 2013, Hughes admitted in a recorded interview that Friend had generated a notebook of associates pertaining to illegal drug transactions that were occurring at the Wilderness Plantation, according to a criminal complaint.
Hughes said Friend kept the tablet in her purse and that it would incriminate him if it was found by law enforcement. Hughes admitted that Metz and Freeman contacted him and said they had gotten the notebook and met him at the Wilderness Plantation where he obtained it from the men, according to the complaint.
Metz and Freeman were charged in the original crime. Hughes, Metz and Freeman were released November 8, 2013. The charges against them were dismissed at that time without prejudice, meaning they could be re-filed.
Lewis County Prosecutor Mike Smith said then there was also new evidence for investigators to consider.
Metz and Freeman have yet to be re-charged.
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