January 15, 2013
Nicholas County man pleads not guilty in quadruple murder
James Belknap
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SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. -- A Nicholas County man accused of fatally shooting a man, woman and two children in May pleaded not guilty to murder charges Tuesday.

James Roy Belknap, 27, of Leivasy, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder on May 28 in connection to the deaths of Stephen Leroy Hendrix, 38, Amber Martin, 26; and Hendrix's two children, 6-year-old Dakota and 4-year-old Kaylee, all of Quinwood in Greenbrier County.

Belknap pleaded not guilty during a pretrial hearing Tuesday before Nicholas Circuit Judge Gary Johnson, who set an April 16 trial date.

Police said Belknap owed Hendrix a drug debt and sometime on May 19, Hendrix drove Martin and his two children to Belknap's house to collect.

Belknap shot the four inside their van and dumped their bodies over the mountainside near his house, according to a criminal complaint filed in Nicholas County Magistrate Court.

Belknap is being held in Central Regional Jail.

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