Montana man charged in 1993 slaying in West Virginia

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Montana man has been charged in a woman’s 1993 slaying in West Virginia, police said.

Ricky Louie Woody of Billings, Montana, 59, was charged earlier this month in the March 1993 death of Melissa Martinez in Huntington. She had a gunshot wound to the torso and lacerations to the head and died at a hospital, police said in a news release Tuesday.

Witnesses initially provided information that led detectives to Woody, but there was insufficient evidence to charge him. Woody moved from Huntington to Billings within a year of Martinez’s death, the statement said.

Billings detectives contacted Huntington police in May 2021 and indicated Woody told them he knew the person responsible for killing a woman known to him as “Lisa” in the early 1990s. Woody ultimately admitted he participated in her death, the statement said.

Huntington detectives determined Woody was referring to the death of Martinez and interviewed him in September 2021 at a Billings jail, leading to the charges. Woody has waived extradition and will be returned to Huntington upon the resolution of the case in Montana, police said.