CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Nitro man admitted in Kanawha Circuit Court on Tuesday that he accepted $50 to get rid of a murdered woman's car.

Joseph Daniel Hardwick, 24, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. He said Timothy Ray Sutherland, 29, also of Nitro, approached him on Dec. 28 at the Miracle Acres complex in St. Albans and asked him to take Stacie Smith's Chevrolet Tahoe.

Smith's father found Smith stabbed in her St. Albans home that same day. Her 3-year-old son was in the home when her father discovered her body.

"[Sutherland] said that he had killed somebody, and that he had a vehicle that he needed to get rid of," Hardwick said Tuesday. Sutherland, who is Smith's cousin, didn't say who had been killed, he said.

When Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman asked him why he agreed to take Smith's SUV, Hardwick said he didn't know.

"Honestly, I'm not sure, other than the fact of my drug addiction. I was offered money for something, and at the time, it didn't matter for what," he said.

Defense attorney Shawn Bayliss said Hardwick refused to take Smith's cell phone and credit cards from Sutherland. He also refused to get rid of a knife that was in the Tahoe, Bayliss said.

Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Maryclaire Akers said after the hearing that the knife was not the murder weapon, and someone else took it out of the Tahoe before Hardwick took the car.

Police also found a Ripley doctor's prescription pad in the vehicle, which prompted them to interview him during the investigation.

Dr. William Casto admitted to having a long-term, on-again-off-again extramarital affair with Smith.

Casto also acknowledged that he prescribed Lortab and Xanax to Smith for what she indicated was back pain stemming from anesthesia administered during childbirth.

Several of Smith's friends said Casto had provided "substantial financial assistance" to Smith throughout the affair, and that he gave her pills and prescriptions to sell when he ran short of cash because of an issue with the Internal Revenue Service, according to court records.

Federal investigators interviewed multiple friends and acquaintances of Smith's, many whose names had appeared on prescriptions issued by Casto. Some said that they had never been patients of Casto's, and Smith used their names to fill prescriptions.

The court filing lists almost 200 prescriptions issued by Casto that were filled by Smith, her family or her associates, dating as far back as January 2006.

Police do not believe that Casto had anything to do with Smith's murder. He has not been charged with any crimes.

As part of his plea deal, Hardwick agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, including providing testimony as needed. Both sides agreed that Hardwick would not have a bond set following his conviction, meaning that he will remain in custody until his Oct. 14 sentencing.

Although Hardwick faces up to five years in prison, Akers agreed to recommend probation as part of the plea agreement.

Hardwick is the first Kanawha County defendant prosecuted under the new accessory-after-the-fact law, which was recently changed to make the crime a felony rather than a misdemeanor, Akers said.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.