ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — Randolph County deputies have announced that a man who was suspected of breaking into and burglarizing a 95-year-old man’s house near Elkins on Tuesday has confessed.
According to a release posted on the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, the office received a tip on Thursday, Oct. 19 that said a person with the same clothes as a suspect in a burglary case from earlier in the week was spotted walking on Poe Run Road.
When deputies arrived in the area, they spoke with Timothy Leary, 50, who they said was wearing the same clothing as seen in video evidence from the scene of the burglary.
When deputies spoke with Leary, he told them that he had recently lost money by gambling and wanted to recover it by breaking into a residence. Deputies said that Leary confessed to Tuesday’s break-in and that he believed the house was empty at the time.
Leary said he threw a brick to break into the residence and took a wallet from the kitchen table before continuing to search other rooms in the house. He then said he made contact with the homeowner and fled the area.
Leary told deputies that he would show them where he left the wallet and led them to the railroad tracks near the intersection of Seneca Road and Poe Run Road where it was found. Deputies said the wallet had the victim’s driver’s license and other identification in it but the cash inside had already been spent.
Deputies said that after returning the wallet, Leary agreed to be taken to the Sheriff’s Office where he was interviewed again and wrote a signed confession to the burglary.
The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office provided this image of Leary that compares him and his clothing to the video gathered at the scene of the burglary.
Leary has been charged with burglary and is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond. Deputies said that they returned the wallet to the original owner and that Leary’s arrest will close the case.
