| UPDATE 3/01/2019 - A man apprehended last week after a search for him ended in Wood County has been charged with murder in Ritchie County.
Chester Leroy Baughman, 28, Oil Springs Road, Petroleum, was charged with shooting and killing George Ruble, 36, on Feb. 22, according to the criminal complaint filed in Ritchie County Magistrate Court by Cpl. C.T. Speece of the West Virginia State Police in Harrisville.
Baughman and Ruble were involved in an argument in the early morning of Feb. 22, the complaint said. Baughman accused Ruble of stealing gasoline from his girlfriend's car, the complaint said.
Baughman then went to his residence a short distance away on Oil Springs Road in Petroleum in Ritchie County, the complaint said. Baughman left his home with a 22-caliber rifle, returned to Ruble's location, shot Ruble in the head, then took his corpse to a rural area near Volcano Road in Ritchie County, the complaint said.
Ruble was pronounced dead by EMS after the body was discovered, the complaint said.
Baughman has waived a preliminary hearing in magistrate court and was bound over to the Ritchie County Circuit Court. He remains in the North Central Regional Jail without bond.
RITCHIE MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER, SHOOTS MAN ALLEGEDLY OVER STEALING GASOLINE
UPDATE 2/25/2019 -
According to the criminal complaint, 28-year-old Chester Baughman of Petroleum, Ritchie County, was in a verbal fight with George Rubie on February 22nd, with Baughman accusing Ruble of stealing gasoline from a vehicle.
Officials say Baughman allegedly left the scene, got a rifle, and returned.
He then allegedly shot Ruble in the head before moving his body to a wooded area near Volcano Road. The body was later found.
Baughman has been charged with murder.
UPDATE 2/22/2019 - West Virginia State Police have released details of a Ritchie County shooting that resulted in the death of a Wood County man.
 Sgt. Chris Snodgrass says Chester Leroy Baughman, 28 (pictured left) of Ritchie County is charged with murder in the shooting death of George Milton Ruble, 26, of Wood County.
Ruble's body was found in a wooded area along Volcano Road in Ritchie County.
Baughman was taken into custody late Friday morning near Dallison in Wood County.
Sgt. Snodgrass says Ruble was shot at Baughman's home in Petroleum, Ritchie County, during an argument with Baughman that started over stolen gasoline.
Baughman is being held in the North Central Regional Jail>
State Police, along with Ritchie County sheriff's deputies, responded to the initial call at 8:30 Friday morning.
More than 25 officers from different agencies were involved in search. including police dogs. The suspect was spotted by a helicopter.
UPDATE 2/22/2019 1 PM - Friday afternoon, West Virginia State Police Troopers arrested a suspect wanted in connection with a shooting in Ritchie County.
Earlier on Friday, investigators found an empty vehicle, which the suspect had reportedly been driving, near the intersection of U.S. Route 50 and Progress Ridge Road in Wood County.
Authorities in Ritchie and Wood counties had been looking for the suspect after a shooting happened in Ritchie County.
Details regarding the shooting have not been released, nor the name of the shooter.
2/22/2019 10:30 AM - Multiple law-enforcement agencies in Ritchie and Wood Counties are searching for a suspect in a reported shooting Friday morning.
Reports indicate the shooting happened in Ritchie County,
Authorities have not released details, but Wood County Sheriff Stephens confirmed that officers have located a vehicle in the vicinity of U.S. Route 50 and Progress Ridge Road that the suspect was reportedly driving.
However, no one was in the vehicle.
The West Virginia State Police and Ritchie County authorities have not confirmed a shooting took place. | 
