Three charged in connection with Kanawha County murder

Three people are facing charges connected to the murder of a man whose body was found in the Kanawha River near Charleston’s Magic Island on Saturday.

On Saturday night, both John Thurmond and Anthony Harriman were arraigned on first degree murder charges for the death of Martin Snodgrass, 51, of Kanawha County, while Erica Cogar was arrested and charged with accessory to murder.

Snodgrass was last seen alive late Friday night near Magic Island where he had gone for a walk to collect aluminum cans. He was reported missing on Saturday when he did not show up for work, as scheduled, at the Bob Evans Restaurant in Kanawha City.

His body was later found in the Kanawha River.

According to the criminal complaint, the three suspects claimed Snodgrass had attempted to sell them drugs and then grabbed Cogar who yelled for help.  Thurmond allegedly told Charleston Police he chased down Snodgrass and beat him with help from Harriman and, together, the two threw Snodgrass’ body into the Kanawha River.

Harriman is reportedly from New Mexico and has only been in Charleston for a few months. Both Thurmond and Cogar are from the Charleston area.

Preliminary hearings for the three suspects are scheduled for July 15.

Charleston Police were handling the investigation.