Kenneth “War” Wylie
WEST CHESTER — A Coatesville man is wanted on charges of witness intimidation and conspiracy, while his girlfriend, an employee of the Chester County Juvenile Probation Department, was taken into custody on the same charges and subsequently lost her job.
Kenneth “War” Wylie, 25, is already facing charges for alleged drug sales in the city and is now alleged to have, with the help of his girlfriend, Chanel Turner, 23, also of Coatesville, located a witness in the drug case and reportedly attempted to intimidate the individual into not testifying in the drug case, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Wednesday. The incident is alleged to have happened in the county Justice Center on Oct. 20.
Wylie remains at large and is being sought by authorities. He has multiple arrest and bench warrants.
“Coatesville criminal defendants have a long and sordid history of attempting to intimidate and corrupt witnesses,” Hogan said in a statement. “I have heard first-hand reports of physical threats, retaliation, and payoffs. This incident, located within the Chester County Justice Center and involving a county employee, is a particularly brazen attempt to obstruct justice. We will not allow criminals to undermine justice in Chester County.”
According to the complaint, Turner approached the witness in Courtroom 12 — the day before Wylie was scheduled for a hearing on drug charges. Turner allegedly said to the witness, “Hey, don’t show up in court tomorrow.” When the witness questioned Turner, she reportedly said, “War (Wylie’s nickname) said don’t come to court tomorrow.”
The witness allegedly told Turner he was not scheduled to appear, but asked why “War” was going to be in court. Turner reportedly told him, “War had some sales or something and your name came up.”
Chanel Turner
Authorities said Turner was talking about drug sales cases against Wylie and the fact that the victim’s name had come up as a potential witness against him. Turner reportedly also said: “He [War] said we are better than that so just don’t come to court tomorrow.”
Authorities said another incident, this one involving Wylie, happened in the Justice Center later that same day. The witness said he was walking to another office in the Justice Center when he encountered Wylie in the hallway. Wylie was not scheduled for any official business in the Justice Center that day, authorities said. Wylie reportedly said to the witness, “Long time no see.” Wylie then followed the victim to an office and reportedly spent time there just to stare at him.
The witness told investigators that he also had received multiple electronic messages in the days prior to Oct. 20, with Wylie reportedly attempting to reach the victim directly or through other people.
The witness reportedly told investigators that he believed that the messages and conduct of Wylie and Turner intended to intimidate him into not testifying. The message, authorities said, delivered was both direct (“don’t testify”) and indirect (“we can track you down, even in the Justice Center”) implying a threat to the witness. The communications and conduct of Wylie and Turner are consistent with a history of attempts to intimidate witnesses and interfere with the administration of justice in cases coming out of Coatesville, authorities said.
Turner, authorities said, confirmed much of the witness’ story, after she was taken into custody.
Interviewed by the Chester County Detectives, she reportedly said that Wylie told her the witness in the drug case was in court on Oct. 20 and told her to tell him not to appear in court the next day — the day of Wylie’s hearing. Turner reportedly told investigators that during her 10:30 a.m. break, she left the Probation office to go up to the sixth floor of the Justice Center to find the witness and confirmed having a “brief” conversation with the man. Turner allegedly told investigators that she returned to the probation office after that, but received text messages from Wylie, letting her know he was in the building.
Authorities also cited a rap video “Thug Life,” on You Tube obviously shot in Coatesville, depicting Wylie allegedly acting out the murder of a witness in the city of a crime. Warning, the video depicts violence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E11HXI-SCRs.
“Wylie just made a bad situation for himself even worse,” Hogan said. “We will track him down. He has added to the criminal charges he faces and amount of time in jail he will serve. He convinced his girlfriend to join this criminal scheme, which will result in her picking up a criminal record and already has caused her to lose her job. This should be a strong lesson and warning to anybody else who is considering trying to intimidate witnesses in Chester County.”
