WEIRTON, W.Va. -- A Weirton man was charged Saturday with murder in connection with the death of his next-door neighbor.

The victim, 51-year-old Frank Barone, died of blunt force trauma to the head. Officials said Barone fell 13 feet down 18 stairs.

Barone's neighbor, 47-year-old Michael Scott Truax, is charged with second-degree murder.

The incident happened on Jan. 20 in the 1400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, where the two men lived in adjacent apartments above a bar.

Weirton detectives said the men got into a verbal argument between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. that night at the bar. Witnesses told police Barone left the bar at 3:30 a.m. and said they heard the two men arguing again in the building's stairwell.

At 4:30 p.m. the next day, Truax went into the bar and said he found Barone lying at the bottom of the stairwell. He asked people inside to call 911.

Truax is being held in the Northern Regional Jail on $250,000 bond. He is set to appear before a Hancock County magistrate judge for an initial appearance on Friday.

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