Larry Totten, a 39-year-old White/Caucasian man, was killed in a shooting at his residence in Glen White, West Virginia, on August 31, 2014. The case unfolded in Raleigh County, where sheriff’s deputies were called into an investigation that quickly resulted in an arrest. Authorities identified Totten as the victim and confirmed that the fatal shooting occurred at his own home. Contemporary reporting did not disclose what led up to the confrontation, how many times Totten was shot, what type of firearm was used, or whether anyone else was present when the shooting occurred.
Raleigh County sheriff’s deputies arrested Joe Collins, then 67 and also a resident of Glen White, in connection with Totten’s death. Collins was formally charged with murder on the same Sunday that Totten was killed.
Authorities did not publicly provide a detailed account of the evidence that led investigators to Collins, nor did early reports explain the relationship between the two men or identify a possible motive. What was clear from the initial investigation was that deputies considered Collins sufficiently connected to the fatal shooting to arrest him on a murder charge rather than simply identify him as a person of interest.
Following his arrest, Collins was taken to the Southern Regional Jail. He was being held without bail as the murder case proceeded through the Raleigh County criminal justice system. The decision to hold him without bail reflected the seriousness of the charge, although the limited contemporaneous reporting did not provide information about any statements Collins may have made to investigators, whether he claimed self-defense, whether the firearm was recovered, or what physical or forensic evidence deputies collected from Totten’s residence.
The publicly accessible online reporting located for Totten’s killing is unusually limited beyond the initial arrest. Available reports establish that Totten was shot and killed at his Glen White residence and that Joe Collins was arrested and charged with murder, but they do not document a later indictment, plea agreement, trial, conviction, acquittal, dismissal, or sentencing. Because those later stages of the case could not be established from reliable accessible online reporting, it would be inaccurate to characterize Collins as having been convicted of Totten’s murder. The documented record available online therefore leaves the case narrative at the point where Collins was jailed without bail on the murder charge while authorities continued dealing with the circumstances surrounding Larry Totten’s fatal shooting.
