A jury in Montgomery County found a 53-year-old man guilty of shooting his 60-year-old sister nearly two years ago.
Snider
West Virginia Regional Jail
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mary Pettitt said Russell Steven Snider was found guilty Friday of four felonies in connection with the killing of his sister on Dec. 21, 2022 – Snider’s 52nd birthday – according to online court records.
Brother charged in fatal shooting of sister in Montgomery County
During a preliminary hearing in May 2023, a neighbor testified that Snider stopped by that morning and asked if he could use his phone. The neighbor listened as Snider, who appeared confused, told a 911 dispatcher that he had killed his sister, Nancy Mary Snider, the neighbor testified.
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Officers went to Snider’s home and found his sister’s body under the kitchen table and a small handgun on a cushion on a couch, according to preliminary testimony. And according to a search warrant, Snider later told officers he shot his sister to defend herself when she attacked him and her ailing father.
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Russell Snider’s residence was in the 900 block of Switchback Road, west of Christiansburg. Nancy Snider also lived in the Christiansburg area.
Russell Snider’s case has been in court since his arrest in 2022. His preliminary hearing in 2023 was postponed for several months so that Snider could regain the ability to defend himself through psychiatric treatment.
During that hearing, Assistant District Attorney Rachel Shrader called James Moore as a witness, who said he lived next door to Snider on Switchback Road.
Moore said he saw Snider mowing the lawn and doing other chores, but did not meet him in person until around 9 or 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 21. That’s when Snider knocked on his door and asked if he could use a phone.
Moore said he gave Snider a cellphone. As Snider stood on Moore’s porch, unsure how to use it to talk to a 911 dispatcher, Moore put him on speakerphone. Moore said he stood in his front door and listened as Snider repeated to the dispatcher that he had killed his sister.
Moore said Snider again seemed confused when the dispatcher asked for the address, so Moore leaned over and gave the information.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Morgan testified during the preliminary hearing that he and other officers arrived at Snider and Moore’s home shortly after the call. Morgan said he and another officer quickly searched Snider’s home but did not immediately locate his sister.
Instead, they found Russell and Nancy Snider’s father, Curtis Snider Sr., handcuffed to the bed in the living room, his speech seeming garbled and largely unintelligible.
Morgan said the only words he could understand from the older man were, “Oh, it’s bad.”
Morgan said that during a second tour of the two-story home, he looked further into the kitchen and found Nancy Snider’s body under the kitchen table.
When asked by Assistant District Attorney Erin Little, who worked with Shrader on the case, Morgan said he found a small handgun on a cushion on a couch.
In earlier testimony, County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Andrew Jarvis testified that he had been called several times before the shooting to mediate domestic disputes between Nancy and Russell Snider.
While searching Russell Snider’s home, investigators seized a revolver as well as two fired cartridge cases and four unfired cartridge cases that were in the revolver, a search warrant states.
According to the arrest warrant, officers also found a fired bullet between the rear doors and took a swab from a red stain on the rear door glass.
Also seized were notebooks, a mobile phone, pieces of cloth and a blanket, a halter, a blood sample from the kitchen and what was listed as parts of a sofa.
According to online court records, Snider’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.
