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.

An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority.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 [...]

The first-degree murder trial of Soyer Moll is underway. Read the news here. Jacksonville lawyer Wally Paramore stands next to his client Soyer Moll with legal assistant Terrie Trim in the background: Wally told me today that Terrie has worked for him for 18 years. I have been covering murder trials in Jacksonville for nearly [...]

A former high-ranking Pender County Sheriff’s deputy who picked up a young man earlier this year in Wilmington and was arrested shortly thereafter on charges of crimes against nature and johning for a prostitute was found guilty in court Thursday of the former and walked on the latter count. Mark Sloan was sentenced to serve 18 months of unsupervised [...]

Timothy Lacey pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping a co-defendant in the murder of a Jacksonville man two years ago. Read the news. A Daily News photo of Lacey in court with his attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Billy Joe Morgan (who is on a roll lately): From what I understand the victim in this case,  30-year-old Kevin Foley, provided [...]

George Hayden, convicted last year of the 1972 shooting death of Sgt. Bill Miller, was released by the N.C. Department of Correction shortly after the N.C. Supreme Court declined to hear the state’s argument against the Appeals Court overturning an Onslow County jury verdict. Hayden has been home for a few days. He has spent [...]

One of the most recent murder suspects arrested in Onslow County has appearently gotten into some trouble in jail.  Juan Hernandez is accused of killing his wife and is locked up awaiting trial. Read about the homicide here. He popped up on the first court appearance calander last week with charges of malicious conduct by a prisoner and assault on [...]

- Robert Lewis has been convicted of manslaughter in his son’s death. Read the news. Photos from the trial are at the end of this post. I have covered every murder trial in Jacksonville in the last five years. I have seen some good lawyering on both sides, but I honestly think Ernie Wright put on [...]

In a courtroom brawl one lawyer likened to the 1974 Madison Square Garden rematch between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, prosecutors this week are attempting to prove Robert Lewis is responsible for his son’s death while his attorney is painting him as a sympathetic father and career police officer who has lost his livelihood. Read the news. Judges [...]

The N.C. Attorney General has taken up the fight against an Appeals Court ruling reversing the decision of an Onslow County jury last year to sentence a former police chief to prison for life in the 1972 shooting death of a colleague. Geoge Hayden in a early 1970s photograph: Read the news here. The announcement is [...]

A lot, I mean a lot, has happened in the last several days. Here is a run down of several loose ends and updates to stories and cases I have covered in the newspaper or on the blog: - A Sampson County man who killed his family will spend the rest of his life in prison now [...]

- One of the longest criminal trials in Wake County history is coming to a close. In a case I mentioned on the blog from time to time since 2008, Cary resident Brad Cooper is accused of killing his wife he said went out for a jog. Read the updated news here. – I have it [...]

A report that begin about a former Marine accused of child abuse ballooned into a much bigger story as details emerged in the marriage of the defendant and his now-estranged wife. The resulting article is online. Ironic that this report – which was held for a few days due to spacing issues because of so many [...]

In the first appeal out of Onslow County to be heard in oral argument in years, lawyers made their points in the George Hayden case in Raleigh on Monday. Hayden was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the 1972 shooting death of Marine Sgt. Bill Miller. Read the entire 50-plus page defendant appeals brief. [...]

Jeff Vavla, a convicted murderer suspected in at least one other homicide, was arrested this weekend and charged with stealing dogfood. I don’t know much about the guy arrested with Vavla, Archie Dale Lester, but he is well known to law enforcement. Vavla escaped justice in the death of Karen Sue Lanham - a woman who was [...]

Wednesday proved to be a long, difficult day of testimony in the manslaughter trial of Robert Lewis. I wasn’t surprised to learn the 911 operator who took the call ended up leaving the job. This tragedy has affected everyone. When the 911 recording finished playing at 4 :30 p.m., the courtroom was completely silent with everyone from the jury to [...]

Most often, the rub in a murder trial is not the high drama of innocence versus guilt but first-degree versus second-degree. In the current murder trial of Ryan Casler, his attorney, Jacksonville lawyer Wally Paramore has already conceded more or less to the jury that his client killed Joseph Wells. With the state refusing to [...]

Murder charges against Vickie Babbitt and Rodger Gill have been dropped. Read the news. Babbitt was having an extramarital affair with George Hayden in 1972. Gill was thier friend. Hayden used an M-16 to gun down Vickie’s husband, Camp Lejeune Marine Sgt. Bill Miller. Hayden escaped justice for 36 years. Then the stars aligned to bring his victim’s sister, who had [...]

Cody Richardson creeps me out. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to strangling his wife and sleeping in the bed with her for two days. Click the above article link to read his five-page confession, two suicide notes and a letter from his victim’s mother to the court asking for leniency (no, seriously). I did not include [...]

Testimony continues in the double murder trial of a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal. Dr. William Kelly testified that Christopher Watts was shot in the face with the bullet going through the jaw, hitting the spinal cord and lodging in the neck. An autopsy photo of Watts’ skull is at the bottom of this post so don’t scroll past the [...]

Testimony is underway Thursday in the double murder trial of Jarrell Wilson. All around Renaissance Man Mike McHugh sat in court for a little bit Wednesday while I did some running around on other stories. Here is his write up for two witnesses that testified: Jacksonville Police Department officer, Brian Pacilli testified Wednesday afternoon in the Jarrell Wilson first-degree [...]

Three murder defendants pleaded “not guilty” in seperate cases in court Thursday. Read the news. Photos- Chief ADA Ernie Lee and defense attorney Wally Paramore talk before court: Prosecutors Kelly Neal and J.B. Askins: Sirree Scales: Soyer Moll entering the courtroom: Paramore and Moll:

Matricide: murder of one’s mother. Two young men were in court Tuesday accused in the deaths of their mothers in unrelated cases. Justin Smith pleaded not guilty during his arraignment. Julius Thomas will have too wait for another psych exam to see whether he will stand trial. And now the incredible John Althouse photos – [...]

Management had an issue with this post. Among other things, they found the combination of the word “God,” which is the generally accepted term for deity in Western culture, and the word ”damn,” which is a term of condemnation, to be offensive. I can’t help but think the social commentary in the post was more “offensive” than the [...]

Albert Bedford led out of the courtroom after being sentenced to life in prison for violently beating and stabbing Vickie Lewis to death in the back of his van – where they used to make love – and then dumping her body – with a trash bag over her head – in a shallow grave on [...]

The murder trial of Albert Bedford continued Tuesday while outside CourtRoom #4 all hell was breaking loose. First Sheriff Ed Brown announced he planned to run for re-election. Then a construction worker fell of the new jail to his near-death and had to flown out of downtown in a helicopter. Later in the day, Cesar [...]

The murder trial of Albert Bedford continued Monday with testimony from witnesses who said Bedford threatened Vickie Lewis prior to her disappearance and a homicide detective who talked about what he found at Bedford’s home looking for her. Bedford: “I’m fighting for my life right now,” he told a family member during a break in [...]

The trial of Albert Bedford skips Friday and then continues into next week. Read about the accused’s family finding a shallow grave in their backyard. Here are a few photos I took Thursday. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture. ADA Matt Silva questions Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Robinson: Defense lawyer William Morgan and Senior ADA [...]

After a day of clearing the docket of probation violators and a day of jury selection, the murder trial of Albert Bedford will finally be underway Wednesday morning. That’s the reason Monday’s newspaper stated “jury selection is set to begin today.” I have learned scheduling at the courthouse changes like the weather. Pictures from the [...]

Have a Happy Thanksgiving. I will be out of the office until Monday. But business will pick up then because jury selection is set to begin in the murder trial of Albert Bedford, a Midway Park man accused of killing his lover and burying her body in his daughter’s backyard while she was out of town [...]

A series that has pardon the pun, become cold in recent months, “Court Case Homicide,” returned to the newspaper Sunday. Onslow County Jail inmate Ryan Casler wrote me a letter from the clink – against his attorney’s advice – about how the death of Joe Wells, of which Casler is accused, was not gang related. [...]

I did a little research, checked on a few things I’ve been told and this is what I have come up with. John Gould’s Iraq War injury was a flesh wound through the soft tissue of his shoulder. The veracity of his war wound was investigated at the time of the incident by the Marines and [...]

After listening to attempted murder suspect Johnathan Gould describe the stab wounds he received the night his wife was attacked with a hammer - prosecutors say Gould hit her and stabbed himself – I got to thinking about his war injury in Iraq. Something in the way Gould referred to his gunshot wound in describing his stab [...]

If you have been following the Jonathan Gould trial on TV then you know how well each station has been covering the trial. But there is a lot of hard work that goes into the news before it hits the airwaves. N.C. Superior Court Judge Jay D. Hockenbury limited the number of television cameras allowed in the [...]

Onslow County Sheriff’s Capt. Pat Garvey was qualified by the court as an expert fingerprint witness for the first time Thursday in the attempted murder trial of Jonathan Gould. Read news story here. Of course, this isn’t Garvey’s first rodeo. He has been a crime scene investigator for eight years, processed hundreds of crime scenes [...]

SBI forensic experts testified in Jonathan Gould’s trial that no latent fingerprints were found on hammers or knife. There was DNA though. More on that later…

A portion of Erin Gould’s brain had to be removed as a result of her December 2008 hammer attack. Read the news article. Her aunt said she is disabled and posted this photo on another Web site: A neurosurgeon testified today to the extent of her injuries. Here’s a few John Althouse photos of the MRI images [...]

I watched a good defense attorney Tuesday lay the foundation for a good defense. Stuart Popkin, representing Lawrence Dowsing charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an out-f-state electrician looking to score weed, worked slowly to put his client in contact with the victim, but several hours prior to his death. Read the [...]

Everyone gets their day in court. For some, who have passed through the fire and come out clean, like Charles Cunningham, it is a time of rectification. For others, like Lawrence Wallace Dowsing III, who sit in their cells the night before jury selection with the knowledge that their fate rests in the hands of [...]

The wife of a cold case homicide suspect is asking the public for donations to help bail him out of jail. Read news here. I know there are a lot of strong emotions in this case. I also know that bail is not supposed to be form a punishment. Bond amounts are to ensure a [...]

I really believed Anthony Wiggins in court today when he said he didn’t know Casey Tyler would shoot a man with his shotgun when he lent it to him. Read news here. However, Wiggins should have been more careful with who he gave his illegally shortened sawed-off shotgun too. Tyler may still have killed Timothy [...]

The third and final prison sentence has been handed out in the Piney Green homeless man murder. Read news here. Jay Oldaker was set to testify against Jason Blackmon and Dusty Newcome – if it came to that. Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee said just by Oldaker pleading guilty in February, the others knew the [...]

This is my blog. It is opinionated. It is not a fair and balanced reporting medium. Therefor, I say that this man deserves to stay in prison for the rest of the life. Read the news about him here. I contacted the family of the victim, but did hear back from them in time to [...]

Senior Resident Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry issued a gag order in the case of state v. Laurean. The order was added to the public record this morning and I was there to pay my $2.75 and pick it up for y’all.   Read news here. Here is a shot from a couple [...]

Jacksonville attorney Dick McNeil has racked up another impressive legal victory. In the state vs. Cornelius Webb, a Sampson County jury found Webb not guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday. The jury deliberated for about two hours.  Webb was accused of a liquor house shooting in January 2007. Webb beat the murder rap but the jury did convict him for possession of a firearm by [...]

It’s official. Prosecutors filed Rule 24 motions today stating that they cannot seek the death penalty for the codefendants in the 1972 homicide of William Miller. Read news here.

The Onslow County Grand Jury was busy today. George Hayden and Vickie Babbitt were both indicted today on first-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Read news here. Babbitt’s attorney has come out fighting. I plan to track down Hayden’s lawyer in the next couple of days and see if he will comment. Attorneys are funny about the news [...]

Sunday’s Court Case Homicide is online. Read it. The article names two gangs operating in the area – the 252 Bloods and the 924 Folk Nation. When I first took over the crime beat, getting anyone to admit there were active gangs in Jacksonville was like pulling eye teeth. In late 2007, authorities were saying gangs [...]

The trigger man in a 2007 homicide decided 19 years in prison was better than life. Too bad the wheel man in that murder didn’t arrive at that destination because now he is doing life without parole. Read news here. Authorities thought there would be gang interferance in the trial, but all it had was two broken-hearted [...]

Another wild morning at the Onslow County Courthouse. About two seconds after a Richlands ice cream shop owner was scheduled to plead guilty to sexually assaulting underage employees, his lawyer put a nix to the deal. With a packed courtroom and news media lined up against the wall, Jacksonville attorney Paul Castle pulled his client, [...]