A Killer And A Con Man

WHEELING—Eugene Blake went to prison after he stabbed a young woman to death in 1967. Then, he gained the confidence of so many local people — including leading citizens and clergy members — that he was given a chance to kill again.

He took it.

Blake went to the West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville after being convicted for the Jan. 15, 1967 murder of then 18-year-old Donna Jean Ball in Wayne County, W.Va. He was to spend life with no chance of parole for the crime. That did not happen.

As a result, on Oct. 24, 1984, 13-year-old Maryann Hope Helmbright was raped and shot to death in Wheeling—and if the Belmont County prosecutor proves his case, the March 19, 1982 murder of Mark Withers, 21, of Lansing, also will be attributed to Blake.

Blake would only serve slightly more than a decade of the life without mercy sentence for Ball’s murder because on Dec. 23, 1976, then-Gov. Arch Moore commuted Blake’s sentence to life with mercy.

Moore’s decision opened the door for the possibility of parole and Blake walked through it in1979. In fact, Blake later had his record expunged of Ball’s murder.

Two weeks prior to commuting Blake’s sentence, Moore received a letter from the West Virginia Board of Probation and Parole in which he was told, “Warden (Arthur) McKenzie has recommended a time cut for the above named inmate (Blake). This file has been not regularly, but constantly reviewed by this board and about five other boards previously. The board again unanimously recommends the denial of Executive Clemency.”

Moore’s decision to go against the parole board and commute Blake’s sentence forever changed the lives of two local families.

Moore, a Glen Dale resident, did not to respond to calls seeking comment.

West Virginia Department of Corrections documents reveal an extensive petition and letter writing campaign was waged by many prominent local citizens to persuade Moore to commute the sentence.

The effort apparently was spearheaded by Blake’s fiance, Donna Marazita, whom he married after getting paroled.

In his petition for executive clemency, Blake said Marazita was a former clerk in the prison business office.

In addition to a three-page, single-spaced petition with hundreds of signatures, dozens of letters were sent to Moore from Ohio and Marshall County residents, Catholic church priests and nuns, businessmen and others.

McKenzie, who also served as a former Wheeling police chief and Ohio County sheriff, was among those who penned compelling letters in support of Blake’s sentence being commuted.

McKenzie confirmed Friday he had written in support of Blake.

“Eugene was an ideal prisoner,” McKenzie said.

When Blake walked out of prison on parole in 1979, it was not the first time during his 10-year stay that he had been outside the walls.

In the mid 1970s, Blake, a convicted murderer, became a prison trusty and was permitted to live in the prison garage outside of the prison walls and, for about one month, in the warden’s home.

DOC documents show Blake used that privilege to show Moore how trustworthy he had been.

Blake wrote in his petition that trusty status afforded him an opportunity to live unsupervised during the day and to use state vehicles to make trips around the area, “often unsupervised.”

He also said he was the first West Virginia Penitentiary inmate with a life without mercy sentence to be granted such privileges.

McKenzie, who was warden from July 1973 through August 1977, said Blake earned trusty status after the classification committee and other staff members reviewed the inmate’s prison record, behavior and attitude.

The former warden denied that Blake moved freely without guards. However, letters from several community members supporting Blake dispute McKenzie’s assertion.

DOC reports say Blake was denied parole several times for various reasons, including the seriousness of the crime, potential public outcry and some prison violations.

For example, on June 6, 1977, Blake was cited after officers found contraband in his room at the garage barracks. This included an officer’s coat, blueprints, two-way state and county radios and citizen band transceivers, binoculars, fish hooks and a citizens radio station licence.

On the same day, a corrections officer said a woman had been found under Blake’s bed at the barracks.

Blake’s freedom also allowed him to volunteer in the local area. In making his case to Moore, Blake wrote that he had volunteered his services to various community functions such as the Coon Hunter’s Horseshow and a rally for world hunger at the Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling.

Blake also informed Moore that he had left the prison numerous times to participate in stage productions at Wheeling’s Towngate Theatre.

He performed in “12 Angry Men” in July 1974, “That Championship Season” in April 1975 and “Inherit The Wind” in November 1975.

Blake told Moore he took part in performances at the Towngate Theatre, Wheeling College and Bethany College.

During the time Blake was in prison he earned several academic achievement certificates. Ironically, one of dozens of awards bestowed on Blake by the West Virginia Department of Education was a certificate for completing 20 hours of instruction and training in “Crime Victim Awareness and Empathy.”