Wayne County Man Admits Role in Second Murder

MORGAN COUNTY, Ky. -- A man from Wayne County, W.Va., already convicted of murdering his father, has admitted his role in another murder and State Police say his father was also involved.

On Monday, 37-year-old Shane Elkins pleaded guilty to complicity to murder in connection with the death of Michael Dean Bartlety, of Ezel, Ky. The plea took place in Morgan County, Ky. Circuit Court.

Prosecutors say that Bartley was struck several times in the head and died in his front yard. This was back in 1988.

Kentucky State Police say that Shane Elkins drove his father, Melvin Elkins, to Kentucky and that his father was the one who killed Bartley.

Elkins was not indicted for the murder until August 2011.

At the time he was charged with Bartley’s murder, Elkins was in the Mount Olive Correctional Center serving a life sentence for the shooting death of his father.

That murder happened in the front yard of his father’s home in Glenhayes in 2007.

Elkins pleaded guilty to the murder in 2009.

Elkins will be sentenced for Bartley’s murder next month.