-Defense Attorney Wally Paramore said in court today that the investigation by NCIS against his client was “overwhelming.” Check it out. Daily News photographer Don Bryan snapped these pics of McDonald blowing a goodbye kiss to family: -ADA Jamie Askins won a big case today and put away a habitual drunk driver who killed a mother [...]

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 [...]

JPD locked up another person in connection to the Davis Street homicide two weekends ago. Read news here. I have heard through the shuffle that Sirree Scales, the alleged triggerman is swearing up and down he didn’t do it. I believe that Dick McNeil has been appointed as his attorney. If true, the JPD are [...]

A body found in a trash can in West Virginia on Monday has been traced back to a Carteret County man because of his pacemaker. Read news here.

A second man has pleaded guilty in last summer’s Piney Green homeless man slaying. The victim’s sister was in court today and had some harsh words for her brother’s killers. Daily News photographer Chuck Beckley shot these amazing courtroom pictures today. Click on thumbs for larger images. Lisa Williams (I called her Kozak in the [...]

Read the breaking news here. Molly did a good job of cobbling the story together from several sources. Our city editor heard about this earlier today, but some of the details were sketchy. We wanted to make sure we had it right before we ran with the story. As a side note, I grew up [...]

I lifted this post from another section and put it here to start a new thread. Mike McHugh who is sifting through a file compiled by a private investigator for a Newsweek correspondent had this to say: I started pouring over the documents Lindell received from a Newsweek reporter regarding background studies of Christina and [...]

The JPD found murder suspect Sirree Scales hiding in a house on Onslow Drive tonight. I just sent the news off for print. I don’t have a link yet. Read the news here.

The following column appeared in Friday’s edition of The Daily News: “Hard times” more like “good ole days” By LINDELL KAY My mother grew up poor in the 1920s. Yep, those 1920s. The Roaring ’20s. When all the women wore flapper hats and all the men drove brand new roadsters. Well maybe in F. Scott [...]

I was off for two days (Wednesday and Thursday) in preparation for working this weekend. Both days were eat up with car shopping. It is a looooooooong story, but I finally have what I have wanted for many years. This is not an actual photo of my ride (I haven’t had the chance), but it [...]

As reported the other day, authorities believe Laurean gave a crowbar to a friend Dec. 16, 2007. Once that friend realized the significance of the crowbar, he turned it in to detectives. Mike and I spoke to him Tuesday. The last several days have been so crazy, I am just now able to take the [...]

Read breaking news here. I was approached about this last week by a concerned parent who had heard some disturbing things from her children who are students at the school. Once I found out law enforcement was aware of it and were investigating the situation, I stepped back and waited (I do that on occasion). [...]

JPD is looking for a suspect in Saturday’s shooting death of a teenager on Davis Street. Cops were crawling all over New River on Tuesday afternoon. I expect an arrest pretty soon. Read news here. City police are looking for this man: Sirree Scales is armed and dangerous, according to police. His criminal history includes convictions for assault, [...]

All three codefendants in the 1972 William Miller homicide case entered a plea of “not guilty” Tuesday during their arraignments. Read news. Vickie Babbit’s sister-in-law spoke to reporters after the hearings. You can probably watch video of what she said on the Web sites for WITN or WNCT. Rodger Gill’s attorney, Kinston lawyer Bill Gerrans gave [...]

Jacksonville attorney Dick McNeal looking through boxes of evidence discovery material in his client’s case. Prosecutors plan to show Cesar Laurean killed Maria Lauterbach. The materials were handed over by Senior Assistant Distict Attorney Mike Maultsby on Tuesday. The state would not supply McNeil with discovery until Laurean was back in North Carolina.

Mike and I spoke to a Marine today who lost his brother Saturday night to a bullet brought on by street violence. He said he brought his younger brother here to Jacksonville to protect him. But his brother was shot less than four months later. Read new here. A younger Omar Becerra from his MySpace [...]

UPDATED The story is now Online with information from a search warrant served today that fills in some of what happened in mid-December, how detectives got their hands on what they believe is the murder weapon, who the guy in the Lowe’s video is, and I get into whether Laurean was extradited because of due [...]

First, a 17-year-old male was shot dead on Davis Street late Saturday night. Read breaking news here. And in Hubert, a man was accused of hitting another man in the head with a hammer during a fight and then being detained by bystanders who tied him up until the cops got there. No, I didn’t [...]

UPDATED Laurean was delievered to the Onslow County Jail at 8:05 p.m. by Sheriff’s Inspector Rick Sutherland and other members of law enforcement. He appeared before a magistrate and was booked. Read news here.  ————————————————————————  Okay, strange is becoming surreal. I have heard from a source close to the investigation that Laurean is headed for Miami, not Houston. [...]

Based on a thing or two I know I can’t report, I would expect him back in Onslow County much sooner that later. Read news. Everyone is talking about the impending media circus, but I don’t see it. Laurean’s 1st appearance in court will be important and we might see a few extra reports for [...]

Cesar Laurean will be returned to the U.S. by Friday. Read breaking news. More information as soon as possible.

Tracy Lawrence had a song a few years ago about being down on your luck and finding out which of those friends that are around when times are good will help you when things go really bad. My father used to always tell me to surround with myself equals and I would be a happy [...]

For the second time this year, a pedestrian on Western Boulevard has been run over. And for the second time no charges will be filled. Read news here. The D.A. thinks – and I agree – that something should really be done about the crosswalk problem on Western. The city says it is waiting on [...]

Like many “unsolved homicides,” the case of Irene Bennett is not as much mystery as frustration. Sheriff’s detectives have a suspect. They have zeroed in on him. Sheriff Ed Brown himself said the DNA evidence is good. So let’s get the ball rolling already! Read the latest Cold Case Homicide report on Bennett here. There [...]

Jacksonville lawyer Bob Coxe has been court ordered to not handle client funds until the State Bar has looked at his records. He is accused of mishandling a client’s funds. Read news. I tried to get ahold of Bob today, but with it being Good Friday the court system was shut down and his office [...]

The Onslow County Sheriff’s Department busted up a suspected meth lab in Richlands on Friday. Read news here. The people in the news story are innocent until proven guilty of course, but after they were locked up and officers with the SBI and OCSD were at the house tearing down the lab and collecting evidence [...]

Statement from the family of Ryan Dawson, a Lenoir County Sheriff’s Deputy shot this week in the line of duty. He has had two surgeries to remove bullet fragments from his neck. “Our family wishes to express our sincere appreciation for the outpouring of love and concern for Ryan. We are so grateful to Lenoir County [...]

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.

Dateline this Friday will feature the unsolved disappearance and deaths of two women in Wilmington, N.C. The show promises to take the viewer inside an investigation like never before. And I beleive it, because I know one of the investigators. Marc Benson, a private investigator hired by the Allison Foy family, is scheduled to be on the show. Benson’s brother [...]

Allen Pearson, a detective with the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Department, has been killed and another detective injured in a shootout with a suspect – who was also killed – this morning. The suspect is said to have killed a woman in New Bern before the deadly exchange. Read news here. I plan to talk with [...]

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 [...]

Robert Sharpe, a former intern at the D.A.’s Office, has been indicted on an embezzlement charge that he stole a copy of the Cesar Laurean file. Read news here. Authorities said he planned to sell the 6,000 plus pages and electronic files to an undercover Onslow County Sheriff’s Deputy posing as a Newsweek reporter. That is all I [...]

Monday marks the one year anniversary of Off the Cuff. For the last 365 days this blog has seemed both blessing and curse, eagle and albatross. People have been able to express themselves and tear other people down. People have treated others with respect and operated outside the designed perimeters to insult third parties. I [...]

I couldn’t make this up: It sounds like a Hemingway-sized fish tale, but a Jacksonville man who said he fought an alligator off his boat full of fish and called 911 for help last weekend ended up being charged by wildlife officials for having under-sized fish. Read the rest.

Ernie Linn was the type of guy who would do anything for a friend. Recently retired from the Marine Corps, he went to work at a local convenience store just because a friend couldn’t find anyone to hire. Linn (right front) at his retirement ceremony in April, 1994: Linn worked there for only a few weeks [...]

Former Ice Cream shop owner Ernest Van Cooney pleaded guilty Friday to four counts of assault on a female, three counts of sexual battery and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and three years probation. Read news here. Twenty days in jail. Twenty days in jail? My brother [...]

Ida Mundell pleaded guilty to trying to meet a minor on the Internet for sex purposes and will be cleaning toilets with a toothbrush for the next 5 and a 1/2 years. Read news here. Remember him? He was part of a sex sting by local, state and federal authorities last year. Read up on [...]

Knife wounds received by a Duplin County magistrate were self-inflicted after an “apparent breakdown,” prosecutors said. Read news here. The window she broke and cut her hands on is to the left of the front door. The glass was visibly broken, but I don’t think it shows up on film too well. The D.A. followed [...]

JPD Deputy Chief David Shipp managed to retire last month without a lot of hubbub. David was extremely helpful to me when I took this crime reporting job more than two years ago. He understood what news people wanted. He understood that it didn’t have to be a major crime to be newsworthy; it just [...]

AS MOST OF YOU FIGURED OUT THIS WAS MY LAME ATTEMPT AT AN APRIL FOOL’S DAY JOKE. VERY FEW OF YOU BOUGHT IT SO I THINK WE ARE MOVING INTO A MORE CYNICAL AGE. OF COURSE MY PUBLISHER FELL FOR THE PRANK I PULLED ON HIM, BUT I CAN’T TALK ABOUT IT HERE. MONDAY WILL [...]

From time to time I like to plug Jennifer Hlad’s blog. Trust me she doesn’t need it, but it gives me an excuse to steal a few of the coolest photos From the ‘stan and post them here. If you haven’t seen her blog, you really should. I don’t know anyone in the 24th MEU [...]