Photo by Derek Redd Dwayne Herring leaves the courtroom Thursday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the death of his wife.

A Wheeling man pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of his wife in their Wheeling Island home, as well as the attempted murder of his father-in-law.

Dwayne Herring, 54, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and attempted arson. Sentencing will be held April 23. Ohio County Prosecutor Shawn Turak said she is seeking a sentence that would keep him in prison for 19 years before he’s eligible for parole.

“I think they realized that the only thing short of a life sentence was the plea agreement reached today,” Turak said after the hearing.

On March 21, 2025, Wheeling police were called to a home in the 400 block of South Front Street after a woman, identified as 56-year-old Kathleen J. Herring, was found dead inside. During the investigation, initial findings at the scene revealed that foul play was suspected. Kathleen Herring’s body was taken to the West Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, where preliminary findings indicated signs of a homicide. On April 28, 2025, the Albemarle County Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit located and arrested Dwayne Herring on Woodlake Drive in Charlottesville, Virginia.

During Thursday’s hearing, Turak said that Dwayne Herring had turned on all the gas burners in the residence in an attempt to blow it up and kill Kathleen Herring’s father, which failed.

Return to theintelligencer.net for more on this developing story.