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FAIRMONT — The attorney defending the most recent Pagan’s murder trial accused the Marion County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney of bad faith against her client in a motion to dismiss she filed on Friday.
“Knowing no evidence existed to tie Ryan Lane to first degree murder, the State began its quest in bad faith to ‘poison the well; with crimes committed by ‘the Pagans’ in an attempt to paint Ryan Lane as a despicable individual who acted in conformity with ‘Pagans’ in general and no one in particular,” Elgine McArdle, Lane’s attorney, wrote in the filing. “In reality, Ryan Lane is a thirty-seven year old man who has never been arrested.”
The Marion County Prosecuting Attorney’s office charged Ryan Lane, 37, with the September 2022 murder of Henry Silver. A love triangle drove the deadly outcome. Silver and the girlfriend of one of the members of the Central Chapter of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club had an affair. After the boyfriend, John Wolfe, found out, Wolfe called one of his fellow club members and five men drove out to Carolina, where Silver was shot five times.
After an investigation, law enforcement arrested six men for the crime, including Lane. The prosecuting attorney’s office worked under the theory a conspiracy formed between the six men to kill Silver. However, Lane — the chapter president — was not present when the crime took place. Austin Mullins, one of the five men, confessed to shooting Silver during his trial. Before Lane’s case reached trial, four successive trials weakened the prosecuting attorney’s theory. Mullins testified he acted on his own, which cast serious doubt on the prosecution’s theory.
“Prior to presenting testimony to a second grand jury in February, 2025, the State knew exactly who killed Henry Silver upon the hells of Austin Mullins’ conviction on Jan. 27, 2025,” McArdle wrote. “Yet approximately 10 days after the trial and conviction of Austin Mullins, the State presented testimony to a second grand jury to accuse Ryan Lane of first degree murder.”
At Lane’s trial, the prosecution was unable to prove conclusively to a jury that Lane was part of a conspiracy and guilty of Silver’s murder. The jury deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial.
Marion County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sean Murphy, who tried the case, has lost the confidence of the victim’s family. Jason Silver, Henry’s father, told WDTV that Lane is innocent.
“No hard evidence or any evidence that connects Ryan Lane to my son’s murder,” Silver said to WDTV. “This has become a personal vendetta for one man against the Pagans. We want it about our son Henry. We want closure. It’s three years today (since Henry’s murder).”
Jason Silver concluded by asking the prosecuting attorney to not go after the Pagan’s on the blood of his son.
“I want justice and peace for my family,” he said.
McArdle argued In her filing that the defense can show Murphy overreached in his prosecution of Lane. She said the prejudicial climate Murphy created may prevent a retrial under the Double Jeopardy Clause.
“The key factor is the bad-faith intent behind the misconduct, not merely judicial or prosecutorial error,” she wrote in the filing.
McArdle explained the fundamental tenet behind the Double Jeopardy Clause in the U.S. Constitution is that the State should not be able to oppress individuals through abuse of the criminal process.
McArdle also alleged juror misconduct. She alleged one of the jurors on the trial admitted under oath to discussing the case with their spouse outside of deliberations. During trials, the jury is instructed to not discuss the trial with anyone. According to McArdle, the hung jury resulted because this juror was left on the panel.
It’s not known how the tainted juror will affect the Marion County Prosecuting Attorney’s decision to move forward with a retrial. Murphy did not return a request for comment before press time. Previously, Murphy indicated the state’s intention to retry the case with a new jury.
Alongside the motion to dismiss, McArdle asked for her client to be released on bond pending further hearings, trial or rulings on the case. She argued that continuing to hold and try Lane would constitute fraud on the state of West Virginia and allow prosecutorial misconduct to proceed.
“The facts clearly dictate that this killing, through an unfortunate series of unplanned events, resulted in Henry Silver’s death,” McArdle wrote. “The state has done nothing but attempt to use one isolated incident of self-defense and make it into a case for glorification of its own sensationalized theory of the case.”
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