Man Allegedly Beats Father-in-Law to Death With Leaf Blower Over Argument About Pigs

A man from Looneyville, West Virginia has been arrested after he beat his father in law to death with a leaf blower over an argument about a dropped pig, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports.

26-year-old Andrew Franklin Bush got into a violent argument with his father-in-law, William Greathouse, when the two attempted to lift a pig into the back of a truck. The cage they wanted to place the pig in fell from the back of the truck, which prompted a physical fight between the two. According to the criminal complaint filed, Bush struck Greathouse in the head with a leaf blower during the fight.

Local police said that Greathouse was later discovered unconscious by authorities in the back of the truck. “He was still unconscious, not breathing and beginning to turn blue in the face and hands. The victim also had an obvious indention in his forehead that had a small open laceration,” reads the complaint, which was filed in Roane County Magistrate Court. Bush has since been questioned over the fight, and claimed that Greathouse antagonized him and threatened him before things got physical.

Bush said he punched Greathouse so hard he knocked his glasses off, which prompted him to hit back. After that, Bush said he picked up the leaf blower and swung the device at Greathouse’s head. He told authorities that he “was mad and felt like he wanted to hurt [Greathouse],” the complaint added. He also said he “was sorry for what he did and that hitting [Greathouse] with the leaf blower was too excessive.”

After the fight, witnesses said that Bush went inside while Greathouse “began to feel his head and went unconscious” in the bed of the truck where the argument first started. Bush, who is being held on a $100,000 cash bond, has been charged with second-degree murder and malicious assault. If convicted, he could face 10 to 40 years behind bars.