Man Sues West Virginia Bar Over Wife’s Slaying

December 15, 2011

The husband of a slain woman is suing a Morgantown, W. Va., bar, arguing employees shouldn’t have let his drunken unconscious wife leave with a stranger.

The Dominion Post says Jeremy Terry filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Novichenk’s Bar on Tuesday in the October death of 33-year-old Fairmont resident Christina Terry.

Thirty-nine-year-old Kevin Utter of Morgantown is charged with beating and strangling her.

The lawsuit claims Terry was so intoxicated she was unconscious when she was found partially unclothed in a restroom. Utter allegedly helped an employee get Terry to her car, then drove off with her.

Terry’s body was found hours later by gas company workers investigating a leak.

Calls to Novichenk’s went unanswered Wednesday. Phone numbers for the holding corporation and its principal, Dennis Johnson, have been disconnected.