Senkbeil

WHEELING — An emotional trial was averted Monday when Crandall Senkbeil entered a guilty plea to the murder and robbery of 19-year-old Caleb Smail.

The trial, which had been scheduled for Monday morning, met as a plea hearing, where Senkbeil, who was charged with murder and first-degree robbery, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the robbery. Senkbeil was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder charge, and 15 years for the robbery. Assistant prosecutor Shawn Turak, who represented the state, said Senkbeil will serve a minimum of 15 years, and a maximum of 27 and a half years, assuming he doesn’t cause problems in prison.

“He’ll get 15 (years), and it’s guaranteed under the terms of the plea agreement that he’ll get 15. If he doesn’t make parole, the most he’ll do is 27 and a half years,” Turak said. “In West Virginia, for every day you serve, a day comes off the back of your sentence. That’s called his ‘good time.’ With his good time, the most he’ll ever do is 27 and a half. … You’d lose your good time on things like (violence).”

The courtroom was packed with supporters, including much of Smail’s family, friends and loved ones, and Senkbeil’s parents. Turak was expecting a highly emotional trial over the course of the week, if it had gone to that.

“It was an emotional case, when a 19-year-old is killed by a 19-year-old, something’s wrong,” she said.

In January, Senkbeil went to to Smail’s house near Clinton and went inside Smail’s room, where he fatally shot him in the chest. He then took a lockbox containing $10,000, leaving the residence. Court records indicate that Senkbeil’s phone was tracked on a route heading from his home to Smail’s residence. The two were known friends.

Senkbeil was arrested and charged in May and indicted in September.

Senkbeil was represented by Robert McCoid. McCoid said the plea agreement had been reached months ago, though details were still being ironed out as recently as Sunday.

McCoid said Senkbeil was remorseful for his actions, begging the Smail family for forgiveness during the hearing.

“He said during sentencing that he’d do anything to have that date back,” McCoid said. “He said he didn’t set our intending to kill (Smail), but things just went sideways. It speaks volumes about the kind of person Crandall is that he’s consumed with remorse.”

McCoid was also confident that Senkbeil would keep his nose clean in prison, and hopes he will parole out close to the minimum end of his sentence.

“Crandall will still be a very young man when he’s released,” he said. “Given his youth and lack of criminal history going in, provided he behaves well while incarcerated, we’re optimistic that he’ll parole much close to 15 years than to the back end.”