
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 10, 1993                   TAG: 9309100151
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAYETTEVILLE, W.VA.                                LENGTH: Medium

COUSIN CHARGED IN ESCAPES

Police have charged a Virginia man, saying he helped two cousins escape from prison last month, then helped hide and move them around while authorities sought them in the slayings of three people.

Jay Curtis Morgan II, 19, of Newport News, is charged in Pocahontas County with one felony count of aiding and abetting an escape and in Fayette County with two misdemeanor charges of harboring an escaped convict, police said.

Morgan was arrested Tuesday in Fayette County. He was released on $20,000 bond.

Billy Joe Hottle, 20, escaped Aug. 5 from a Huttonsville Correctional Center work camp in Pocahontas County. Ten days later, Craig Swick, 23, walked away from the Charleston Work-Release Center.

The fugitives were captured Aug. 27 in their hometown of Petersburg after a brief shootout with police. They are being held at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville.

Each has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 23 shootings of Leon Miller, 25, and Donna Ours, 27, of Cabins, W.Va., and 7-Eleven clerk Karen Jeffrey, 33, of Keyser, W.Va.

Hottle's girlfriend, Beverly Layton, 21, of Ansted, W.Va., also has been charged with harboring the fugitives.

According to Fayette County Magistrate Court records, Layton told police she received help from Morgan in aiding Hottle and Swick in their escapes. She said Morgan also brought the fugitives to her house and stayed there with them.

Morgan also took Hottle and Swick to Grant County and gave them a tent to stay in, Layton told police.

Hottle was serving up to 10 years for parole violations and grand larceny. Swick was serving up to 25 years for burglary and grand larceny.

by CNB