Two Camp Lejeune Marines face accusations of rape in what one official called the worst rape and sodomy case they had ever seen. Read the news. After the story was published, 1st Lt. Kristen McCarthy, the deputy public affairs officer for the 2nd Marine Division, sent me an email clarifying that Kaiser and Krout have [...]

Much more will be reported on this case by the time it’s all over with. The story was picked up by The Associated Press and ran all over the world. Read our initial report. And the follow up. The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS report. The weapons and combat equipment were sold online to China, but [...]

Cops think they’ve solved an ear-biting cold case with the arrest of a Hubert man accused in another more recent chopping case. Read the news. The police press release. The victim’s ear:

Mike McHugh sent me pictures he took of the crime scene photos the D.A. presented during his press conference. I share them now – 111 Fieldcrest Drive: The window: The broken screen: ————————————————————————————————– David Darling was killed April 8. His death was determined to be justified by District Attorney Ernie Lee based on the state’s [...]

Mike McHugh and I spoke today with the Marine who killed two home intruders April 15. Read previous post. He was well-spoken and polite, but said he didn’t want to comment at length about the incident. He said he thought the media coverage of what happened was fair and the community has been supportive. He [...]

Maurice Skinner and Diego Everette were killed April 15. “These deaths, although tragic for the decedents’ families, are justified pursuant to the facts and circumstances of this investigation and the law of North Carolina.” – District Attorney Ernie Lee. Lee said the state’s newly updated Castle Doctrine applies in the case. Read the news. The article [...]

Elizabeth Tourish lets Daily News photographer Don Bryan know how she feels during her booking process Saturday after being arrested on charges of selling cocaine, delivering cocaine and maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance: Read the news. A complete list of those arrested or still being sought will be available later in the week. [...]

A tipster sent me an email Friday to tell me about a drug search at Swansboro High School, saying they wanted to help me “get on the ball!!!!” Sigh. I knew about the drug search – which happens frequently (searches, not me knowing) – almost as soon as it began. Please don’t construe this post [...]

A prominent Jacksonville lawyer was charged Thursday with driving while impaired and unsafe lane change. Deke Owens is a personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of John Drew Warlick, which also lists his areas of practice as family law, criminal law and civil litigation. He was charged by Jacksonville Police Department officer Scott Eichelberger, [...]

Marine Col. Daniel Lecce is always first to crack a joke about his diminutive height, but there is nothing small about this Devil Dog. Lecce tackled tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms and wildfires during his two years as commander at Camp Lejeune. Read about his last few days on the job. Read about the change of command. [...]

In my weekly column this week I talk about how news derived locally is usually better than national news, which is a lot of talking heads doing commentary and news analysis, which looks and sounds like news, but isn’t. An excerpt: We should all practice common sense discernment. My practiced method is to seek out [...]

This is not a comment on the guilt or innocence of the community watchman who apparently shot and killed a teenager in Sanford, Fla., last month. This is a question of image and why the media is ignoring readily available photos showing  that teenager in a possibly different light. I’m not saying that dressing a [...]

This photo cleaned up enough to show the car that rolled last weekend in Bear Creek:   Took this photo on my phone Saturday night: Drowned out by all the spotlights is a smashed-up, rolled-over car. The trooper at the scene – Bear Creek Road between Bogue House II and my living room in Hubert [...]

I grew up in a Christian home. I still hold onto many of those beliefs. I support the death penalty. I don’t like crime. I believe the Second Amendment isn’t about personal protection or hunting and sporting rights. It is, and always was, about an armed citizenry keeping its government in check. As such, I [...]

The court case of an Emerald Isle businessman accused of assaulting a woman last year was continued Friday to a later date in N.C. District Court in Carteret County. Booking photo Douglas Craig Starcke, 31, is charged with assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats. Starcke co-owns South Swell Surf Shop and [...]

The Onslow County grand jury has indicted Timothy Akers on a open count of murder. Akers is accused of shooting a woman last year. Read the indictment. Read the news.

Jejuan James hasn’t paid his property taxes totaling $766.53 for 2011. He has a pretty good excuse: He’s been locked up in jail on attempted murder charges since December. Crime scene investigators looking over the car James is accused of shooting up: The Daily News published the complete tax list of property owners, including James, [...]

Sheriff Ed Brown wants to use inmate labor to cultivate farmland. Read the news. The divining rod jokes were inevitable, but work farms seem like a good idea to me. Why should people convicted of a crime get to sit at a picnic table and play cards or watch TV all day long? Hate the [...]

Investigation Discovery, one of my favorite cable networks, is featuring the Cesar Laurean case Saturday. I’ve seen the program and it is interesting. Read the news. The actor playing Sheriff Ed Brown doesn’t look much like the real deal, but other than that the re-enactments are good. Two photo stills from the show’s re-enactments- Laurean [...]

Smoke inhalation caused the deaths of three children in last week’s Southwest area house fire, according to medical examiners. The fire was the result of a malfunctioning refrigerator, according to the N.C. SBI. Read the news. Tabitha Pittman, 12; Elijah Pittman, 8; and Gabriel Pittman, 6. Funeral arrangements haven’t been made. -

This photo – taken in moving traffic over the back of a flatbed truck – shows JPD Chief Mike Yaniero pulling over a cabbie on Tuesday afternoon: Mike McHugh and I were on the way to the courthouse and couldn’t stop, but I called Yaniero. He said the guy littered right in front of him [...]

In this column I talk a lot about Weldon Ferrell who deserves every accolade he receives. The other deputy who responded with Ferrell and tried to get the kids out of the burning house was Mike Hardison. He is also a good example of the character it takes to be a law enforcement officer everyday. [...]

I’ve made no secret that I’m a Democrat, but if they keep getting me into hot water I’m going to have to start hanging out with a different crowd. Just days after someone accused me of buddying up to the sheriff, a Democrat, I’ve been questioned as to whether I am paying too much attention [...]

This morning’s deadly house fire killed three children and hospitalized five more along with their mother. Read the news. Photos taken at the scene: Still smoldering at 6:40 a.m.: Putting out the last of the flames: U.S. 17 traffic control: Overhauling the house: Long, hot day: Norman Bryson, director of Onslow County Emergency Services, and [...]

Just posted this to my Facebook page: Holy smokes. I can’t take the innuendos anymore. It’s funny how many people think it’s a big deal who I go to the gym with. It’s never been a secret. I’ve seen court officials and cops there several times. I’m not hiding anything. Guess if we were playing [...]

Albert J. Ellis Airport Chief Hans Miller has been named Peace Officer of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars N.C. District 4, which covers much of eastern North Carolina. After receiving the award Miller spoke to family and friends, but stopped just shy of announcing his intention to run for Onslow County Sheriff. [...]

With so much talk about the new Onslow County Jail’s smoke control system lately, it’s disturbing to see what happens when such a system doesn’t work…or is nonexistent… County Manager Jeff Hudson said it was better to be delayed than to rush into the building and then have a tragedy. While not a new building [...]

UPDATED I spoke today with Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Perrigo, the SRO at White Oak High School. He said he was aware of the incident there and after an investigation determined the male student’s action not to be a sexual assault. He said the boy reached back and his arm hit the girl on the chest. [...]

Judging by the photos on his MySpace account, bank robbery suspect Rodney Milton had just one thing on his mind: Read the news of his arrest. Milton appears to be on parole in Pennsylvania. Not so easy to rob a bank in Jacksonville after all, huh?

- According to reliable sources, John Giltz was home alone with Suzy Zemlick when she was shot. Read latest news. My favorite paragraph from that article? The homicide occurred on Monday. An arrest warrant for Giltz was issued Tuesday. He was arrested Thursday at around 11 a.m. A press conference was held at 3 p.m. SPD Chief [...]

By default, it once again falls to me to perform a little rumor control. Yes, I am aware a deputy resigned from the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office the same day The Daily News published a recent report on the sheriff’s collection from deputies of their private cellphones. Said deputy’s resignation has nothing to do with [...]

It’s rare to see a not guilty verdict handed down at the Onslow County Superior Courthouse. But Brennan Listle left a free man yesterday when a jury of his peers determined he was not negligent in leaving alone his 22-month-old son in a fenced-in backyard with two dogs, one of which mauled the boy. Read [...]

An award-winning documentary about sexual assault in the military touches on Ohio Rep. Mike Turner’s crusade for such since the death of Maria Lauterbach, who was originally from his district. Turner. From The Dayton Daily News website. Read the news.

Swansboro police arrested John L. Giltz, who turned 66 Thursday. He is charged with murder in the shooting death of 50-year-old Suzy Zemlick. Read the news. – Mike McHugh, Daily News columnist and master researcher, liked this otherwise sad case because Giltz and Zemlick are a whole lot easier to track down on the Web [...]

UPDATE: INVESTIGATORS SAY MATTHEW ZEMLICK IS NOT A SUSPECT IN HIS WIFE’S DEATH. MATTHEW ZEMLICK DOES HAVE RESTRAINING ORDERS ON FILE AT THE ONSLOW COUNTY COURTHOUSE. Read the latest news in the case. —————————— Details are beginning to emerge from the Monday shooting in Swansboro Heights involving a resident of S. Dogwood Lane. The Daily [...]

Police are tight lipped on Monday’s homicide in Swansboro. Read the news here. Mike McHugh and I bounced some information around and here’s what we came up with: The address where crime scene investigators were working Monday is rented by John and Helen Giltz. I dialed their number in the phone book with the South [...]

Due to several requests, I am posting this letter here so that more people can read it without having to befriend me on FaceBook. I will be asking commissioners about this letter, interviewing the sheriff and continuing to gather information this week about the current situation at the Sheriff’s Office. —————————————————— Commissioner W.C. Jarman, Chairman [...]

An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. NO. COA11-912 NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS Filed: 17 January 2012 Cherokee County No. 10-CVS-561 SEAN [...]

YES. I am aware a high-ranking deputy sheriff was fired last week. YES. I am aware the sheriff collected deputies’ phones back in December. NO. I don’t know whether the two have any correlation whatsoever. Everybody wants me to write about the malaise at the Sheriff’s Office, but no one wants to go on the [...]

Michael Ward – the guy who gives new meaning to being popped in the can – will most likely be shipped back to Georgia as soon as possible. Detectives – who say they still strongly believe Ward smuggled a handgun into the Onslow County Jail  in his ass – say they’d like to just see [...]

While I want to see the autopsy report before saying for sure, SSgt. Senn’s death sure sounds like drunken head trauma syndrome. I wrote about that in 2007. It is a decent report on the phenomenon. Read that report here. Best quote ever: “I’ve seen plenty of dead drunks who died in wrecks.” – Dr. [...]

Michael Ward is suspected of having a gun in his rectum when he was booked into the Onslow County Jail. Read the news. Read the official press release from the Sheriff’s Office. It seems besides having a suspected ability for really packing it in, Ward has a proclivity for making up identities. He is charged [...]

A Southwest man remains in jail after being charged in a drunk driving crash that killed two friends and injured his brother and fiancee. The decedents were not wearing seatbelts. Read the news. Also check out this well-done video by WCTI12 that shows the group at the pool hall moments before their fatal ride. There [...]

Daily News content editor Amanda Hickey sent me this link to share on the blog. This 17-year-old Hendersonville girl was charged with leaving her baby in the trash. We had a similar case here a few years ago. Looking for more information, I searched the web using the words “”baby” and “trash.” It is depressing [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 1: “JHW-018.” The popularity of spice and bath salts hit the tipping point in 2010 as military members substituted the synthetic for marijuana since it left [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 2: “No reasonable jury.” Sentenced in May 2010 to life in prison in the Sept. 16, 1972, shooting death of Marine Sgt. Bill Miller, retired Marine [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 3: “Pasquotank.” Although convicted murderer Cesar Laurean spent all of 2011 locked up in a state prison 150 miles from Jacksonville, his infamous crime continued to [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 4: “Justified.” During a tragic incident in February, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy shot and killed an off-duty fireman in their upscale Swansboro subdivision. The fireman was [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 5: “Unsealed.” While this story didn’t quite grab everyone like I thought it would, there is no denying its lasting impact on local law enforcement. No [...]

I have compiled what I believe to the 10 most captivating local crime stories of the last year. These are the crime stories that got our readership talking. No. 6: “Gavel to Gavel.” My publisher once told me the life’s blood of a community newspaper was local trial coverage. This year was a good example. [...]