West Virginia man appears in magistrate court for murder, two charges move to grand jury

HANCOCK COUNTY, W.Va. ( WTRF ) – Jordan Pager, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend Taylor Albert on Sept. 28, 2024, appeared in Hancock County Magistrate Court Thursday morning.

After an hour of testimony, two charges were moved to circuit court – murder one and murder two.

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A murder one charge is the intent to kill with deliberation and pre-meditation and a murder two charge is the intent to kill with no pre-meditation.

“Well, it’s early on and we feel that there’s enough for both. And the magistrate felt the same in bouncing both charges over [that murder one charge] to the circuit court. But, you know, it’s still early on in the investigation. There are other things we need to uncover.”

Steven Dragisich | Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney

The state called a police officer, and two detectives employed by the Weirton Police Department to the stand to testify on the evidence proving premeditation.

Detective Randy Kernen says they collected 17 items from the home after obtaining a search warrant, one of those items being a notebook.

“Upon opening that notebook, there were three entries immediately when you opened the notebook. It said, ‘I killed my family,’ then on the next page ‘Help Me,’ and then on the next page, ‘Save Me.'”

Randy Kernen | Detective, Weirton Police Department

Detective Jeffrey Miller testified that Pager said “Did I shoot Taylor, that’s what I remember doing” during an interview five hours after the incident and also testified Pager was of sound mind during this interview.

It was revealed by Pager’s lawyer that he and the victim, Taylor Albert, were allegedly eating psychedelic mushrooms the previous night.

Psilocybin mushrooms along with four syringes were among the other pieces of evidence recovered at the scene.

Detective Miller said during his testimony that they believe it was Pager who called 911 in the morning hours of Sept. 28. They say he was unable to recall the address until an unidentified female in the background revealed the correct location.

During the 911 call, Pager was not sure what he needed and eventually asked for police and EMS.

As previous reports have confirmed, Albert was dead when emergency personnel arrived on scene.

Defense Attorney Nicholas Yovich said this shows Pager’s disorientation and confusion and his “state of mind is paramount when it comes to this case.”

During closing arguments, Yovich explained:

“They have to prove that he took the step to coldly and calculatedly commit a murder. That is not what the evidence so far breeds out. What breeds out is that two people took narcotics voluntarily on the evening in question. And for some unknown reason that we still have no evidence of, a gunshot was fired into this poor woman, who is no longer with us.”

Nicholas Yovich | Pager’s Defense Attorney

The magistrate judge did allow the murder one charge to move to circuit court, and Yovich voiced his disappointment.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed by the outcome. We were hoping that the murder one would be dismissed today, as I think there’s ample evidence that premeditation is simply not exhumed here. It’s very unfortunate. It’s a tragic situation for everybody involved. We just ask the public to keep an open mind as to what’s going on. And we’re confident that when all the evidence is brought into a court of law that the right result, whatever it may be, will end up occurring.”

Nicholas Yovich | Pager’s Defense Attorney

Dragisich says he anticipates the use of the psilocybin mushrooms will be used as a defense.

“We don’t feel that is any justification for what happened here, and we feel the defense will not prevail on that argument. This gentleman thought about it before he actually committed the act. And we feel the evidence showed that today. “

Steven Dragisich | Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney

This case will be heard by a grand jury in January 2025, where it will be decided if there is enough evidence to move forward and set a trial date.

Until then, Pager will remain in the Northern Regional Jail without bond.

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