Earlier I flagged this very bizarre story of a local circuit court judge in Mingo County, West Virginia who was having an affair with his married secretary and when she tried to break it off he went on a four year campaign trying to frame her husband for a handful of crimes. The story is almost comical in a way, except if you’re David Woodruff – the guy who not only had his wife cheat on him but then had to endure four years of persecution and framings at the hands of the county’s top judge. But there’s something else going on in Mingo – a decade old rape allegation that may be tied to the highly publicized assassination of the Mingo County Sheriff earlier this year. Read More

Back some point during or before 2008, Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury started sleeping with his married secretary Kim Woodruff. When Woodruff tried to break things off, Judge Thornsbury began a 4 year long crusade to frame Woodruff’s husband Robert for a variety of crimes ranging from drug possession to larceny and assault, along the way dragging various other members of county law enforcement, knowingly or unknowingly, into his scheme. The plots ranged from planting drugs on Woodruff to taking a case where Woodruff was the victim of an assault and charging him as the perpetrator. Adding to the weirdness, along the way various members of county government intervened along the way to protect Woodruff but did not go so far as to expose Thornsbury’s vendetta or attempt to have him removed as judge.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin finally had to step in (Thornsbury is the county’s only judge); Thornsbury currently faces 20 years imprisonment if convicted.