Accused murderer/arsonist takes plea

A Shade man who was originally charged with murder for allegedly killing a woman friend and then burning her body in a car pled guilty to a reduced charge Monday in Athens County Common Pleas Court.

Steve Dougan, 27, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after he pled to involuntary manslaughter in the February death of Crystal King, 27, of Pomeroy.

Dougan also pled to counts of aggravated arson, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. He had already been facing those charges as well as the murder charge.

Dougan was arrested after authorities found a badly burned corpse in a vehicle Feb. 11, located on Chase Road southwest of Athens.

DNA testing later revealed the body to be that of King, an acquaintance of Dougan's who had at one time had a romantic relationship with him.

According to Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren, however, at Dougan's plea hearing Monday, the defense stated that Dougan and King had gotten involved romantically again, and that this led to an argument in which Dougan accidentally killed King.

Warren reported that according to the defense, King had threatened Dougan that she would reveal his "indiscretions" with her to Dougan's current girlfriend.

This led to a fight, Warren said, in which Dougan shoved King, and she hit her head on a car door, causing a fatal injury.

The fight apparently took place at Dougan's home.

Warren said he believes the outcome of Dougan's case is appropriate, as he believes the facts in the case don't support the claim that Dougan deliberately planned to kill King.

"Based upon the facts, it's not a murder case," he said.

Warren said Dougan received 10 years each on the manslaughter and arson charges, to run concurrently. He received three years on the tampering charge and one year on the abuse-of-a-corpse charge, also run concurrently. The two sets of prison terms were then run consecutively, to result in a 13-year sentence, he said.