Sutton, West Virginia, man gets 15 to life plus 20 more for murder, first-degree arson

Reger imposed the maximum of 20 years on Sidun’s first-degree arson conviction and ran it consecutively to the first-degree murder term.

Reger also ruled the Lewis County sentence would run consecutively to a prison term Sidun received in Harrison County for battery and wanton endangerment.

Murder victim Dustin John Allman’s sister, Erica, delivered the victim’s impact statement, saying she is “often tormented” by what her brother’s final moments were like.

“This murder will never be over for us,” she told the court. “He did not deserve such a gruesome death.”

She described her brother as funny, brave, fearless, saying he loved fishing, riding and the outdoors. She said that just five days prior to his death, Allman had taught her daughter how to shoot a crossbow, promising to take her hunting when she got older.

“He will never see her grow up,” Allman’s sister said.

She concluded by saying that there were no words to describe what losing a child has done to their parents.

“There is no punishment that you could receive that will ever compare to the pain and suffering you’ve caused our family. He will remain in our hearts forever,” Erica said.

Sidun’s father, Adam Sidun, took the stand on his son’s behalf, asking for mercy. He said that as a child, Sidun was energetic, active, kind and sharing. That changed when Sidun was 12, after an individual in a position of trust committed a crime against his son, Adam Sidun said.

Defense attorney Phil Davis told the court that Sidun has no extensive criminal record, He asked Reger to run the sentences concurrently.

Lewis County Prosecutor Christy Flanigan asked the court to impose the maximum arson sentence and run it consecutively with the life term.

The judge also ordered Sidun to pay the Jane Lew Volunteer Fire Department $1,650 in restitution.

In August 2020, Sidun shot Allman to death in a Jane Lew apartment. Allman’s body was discovered hours later in the remnants of a house that burned to the ground next to Jane Lew Elementary School.

It’s possible that Sidun already has discharged the Harrison County sentence, in which case he would receive some credit toward the Lewis County sentence served while pending prosecution.

In Harrison County, Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell on May 28, 2021, sentenced Sidun to two years in prison for wanton endangerment, with credit for 269 days already served. The court ran a one-year term for misdemeanor battery concurrent with the wanton endangerment sentence.