Coal company executive Ben Hatfield found dead in Mingo cemetery

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7. Second arrest made in murder of former W.Va. coal executive

Second arrest made in murder of former W.Va. coal executive

By WSAZ News Staff; Andrew Colegrove | Posted: Mon 4:42 PM, May 23, 2016 | Updated: Tue 4:30 PM, May 24, 2016

UPDATE 5/24/16 @ 4:15 p.m.
MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A second person has been arrested in connection with the murder of a former W.Va. coal executive.

Ben Hatfield was found shot to death in the Mountain View Memory Gardens Cemetery in Mingo County early Monday morning.

Hatfield had been reported missing after not returning to Kanawha County. He had been visiting his wife's grave at the cemetery.

Mingo County Sheriff James Smith tells WSAZ they pinged Hatfield's phone and it led them to the cemetery, where they found his body.

Anthony Arriaga, 20, of Gibsonburg, Ohio, was arrested early Tuesday morning in Allen County, Ohio, which is more than five hours away from Mingo County. He is charged with first degree murder in Hatfield's death.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Arrest made in coal company executive’s death

By Erin Beck, Staff Writer
Reach Erin Beck at [e-mail], 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

An Ohio man was arrested early this morning for allegedly killing Bennett K. “Ben” Hatfield in a Mingo County cemetery, where Hatfield was preparing his late wife’s and other family member’s graves for Memorial Day.

Anthony R. Arriaga, 20, was arrested without incident at about 2 a.m. at a relative’s home in Delphos, Ohio, according to police. He is charged with first-degree murder. ... Mingo County Sheriff James Smith said this afternoon that police still had not determined a motive.

Smith said that police were able to tie the shooting to Arriaga when a person who lived near the cemetery stepped forward. The neighbor said Arriaga arrived at their home, in his underwear, said he fell in the river and gave them $45 to drive him to a Rite-Aid in Wayne County.

Hatfield, an engineer and longtime coal company executive who worked for Massey Energy and Arch Coal, was found over a hillside, dead from a gunshot wound in the Mountain View Memory Gardens in Maher, outside Williamson, at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, according to Smith.