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Bryan Bell North Carolina Death Row

Bryan Bell was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for kidnapping and murder of Elleze Thornton Kennedy. According to court documents Bryan Bell would kidnap Elleze Thornton Kennedy during a carjacking and force her into the trunk of her car. She was driven to a remote location where she was beaten before the vehicle was set on fire. Bryan Bell was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

North Carolina Death Row Inmate List

Bryan Bell 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0592464
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Probation/Parole/Post Release Status:	INACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	AFRICAN
Birth Date:	02/11/1981
Age:	40
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Bryan Bell More News

The evidence at trial tended to show that on 3 January 2000, defendant met two friends, Antwaun Sims and Chad Williams, at a game room in Newton Grove. At defendant’s request, Williams brought a BB gun with him to Newton Grove and gave it to defendant upon arrival at the game room. After spending some time at the game room, defendant, Sims, and Williams left for the Newton Grove traffic circle where they “hung out,” smoked marijuana, and drank brandy. Defendant told Sims and Williams that he wanted to steal a car so that he could leave town, and Sims said he was “down for whatever.” At that point, defendant spotted Elleze Kennedy leaving Hardee’s, and he said, “I want to rob the lady for her Cadillac.”

The evidence further showed that defendant, Sims, and Williams followed Kennedy to her nearby home and watched as she exited her car and turned to lock the door. Defendant then ran up to Kennedy, pointed the BB gun at her and said, “Give me your keys.” Kennedy threw her keys into the yard and began to scream, at which time, defendant hit her with the gun, knocking her to the ground.

Sims and Williams found the car keys and then put Kennedy into the car. Kennedy bit Williams as he grabbed her, and Williams punched her in the jaw to make her release his hand. Defendant sat in the back seat with Kennedy. Sims drove the car, and Williams sat in the front passenger seat. At one point, Kennedy asked defendant why he was so mean and where he was taking her. He responded by hitting Kennedy in the face with the BB gun. Kennedy, bleeding badly at that point due to repeated beatings, laid her head against the door and did not say anything else.

Defendant instructed Sims to drive to the Bentonville Battleground and, upon arrival, defendant, Sims, and Williams pulled Kennedy from the car and placed her in the trunk. They got back in the car and drove toward Benson. Kennedy was unconscious when placed in the trunk, but she later awoke and began moving around in the trunk. Defendant told Sims to turn up the radio so that he did not have to listen to Kennedy in the trunk.

The three men then went to the trailer of Mark Snead, Williams’ cousin. They went inside and smoked marijuana with Snead. The men told Snead that the car was rented and that the three were traveling to Florida. Soon thereafter, the three left Snead’s trailer and went to the trailer of two individuals referred to as Pop and Giovonni Surles, where Sims used Pop’s phone to call his girlfriend, and then the three left. Before leaving the trailer park, Williams got out of the car and walked back to Snead’s trailer because, as he testified at trial, he did not wish to go anywhere with Kennedy in the trunk of the car. Defendant and Sims returned a short time later and told Williams that they had released Kennedy, after which Williams left with them.

Defendant, Sims, and Williams made one more stop in Benson to clean the blood from the backseat of the car. They then drove towards Fayetteville on Interstate 95. Sims stopped for gas at a truck stop, and defendant looked through Kennedy’s purse and found four dollars to use towards gas. While at the gas station, Williams heard movement in the trunk of the car and realized Kennedy was still trapped in the trunk. Williams confronted defendant with his suspicions, and defendant told Williams he was “tripping.” Defendant disposed of the BB gun and Kennedy’s credit cards by throwing them out of the window along Interstate 95. Once in Fayetteville, Sims stopped the car, and he and defendant went to the trunk. According to Williams’ trial testimony, Sims slammed the trunk repeatedly on Kennedy as she was trying to get out.

Defendant then decided that the group needed to return to Kennedy’s house in Newton Grove to look for the scope to the BB gun. Defendant did not find the gun scope, but he did find one of Kennedy’s shoes. He picked it up and put it in the car. As they were leaving the house, Williams again asked defendant and Sims to release Kennedy. Defendant told Williams they would release Kennedy, but they had to go somewhere else to do so.

The trio left Kennedy’s house a second time and drove the car down a path into a field, parking on a hill at the edge of the clearing. Sims turned off the headlights and opened the trunk. Williams testified at trial that he could hear Kennedy moaning. Williams asked defendant what he was going to do. Defendant responded, “Man, I ain’t trying to leave no witness. This lady done seen my face. I ain’t trying to leave no witness.” With that, defendant shut the trunk on Kennedy. Defendant then got a lighter from Sims and set his coat on fire, threw the burning coat into the car, and shut the door.

The next morning, defendant sent Sims to check on the car. Sims rode his bicycle down to the car and found that the windows were covered in smoke and Kennedy was dead. Sims reported back to defendant, who then called a friend, Ryan Simmons, to come and pick them up. Before leaving the area, defendant had Simmons drive them down to the car. Defendant and Sims got out to wipe fingerprints from the car. Williams stayed in the car with Simmons and admitted to him that the car was stolen. He did not give the details of the prior evening. Simmons took defendant and Williams to their respective houses to get some personal items and then dropped all three at Sims’ brother’s home, where they stayed for the next few days.

Kennedy’s car was discovered by Joe Godwin on 4 January 2000. The car was parked close to Godwin’s property line, and when he went to investigate, he found that all of the windows were covered over. At Godwin’s request, his wife called the sheriff’s department, and a detective discovered Kennedy’s body upon examination of the car. An autopsy report concluded that Kennedy suffered several blunt force trauma injuries to the head but ultimately died from carbon monoxide poisoning, a direct result of the fire set by defendant inside of the car. Defendant, Sims, and Williams were ultimately linked to the crime. Williams gave several statements to police and eventually pled guilty to murder, kidnapping, and theft. Williams testified against defendant and Sims in exchange for acknowledgment of his assistance by the prosecution during his own sentencing proceeding.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1395595.html

Clifford Miller North Carolina Death Row

Clifford Miller was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for kidnapping and murder. According to court documents Clifford Miller and Angelito Maniego would kidnap the victim, David William Brandt, as he was heading to the bank with the daily receipts. David William Brandt was taken to a remote location where he was beaten and stabbed over thirty times. Clifford Miller would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

North Carolina Death Row Inmate List

Clifford Miller 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0742512
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	ASIAN/ASIAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	OTHER
Birth Date:	07/30/1977
Age:	43
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Clifford Miller More News

On 13 August 2000, David William Brandt was employed as the assistant manager of Aladdin’s Castle, an arcade located in the Jacksonville Mall. As assistant manager, Brandt was responsible for depositing the arcade’s earnings in a nearby bank every day or every other day. When Brandt left the mall on 13 August 2000, he was carrying three bank deposit bags containing a total of $2,688.25. As he was leaving, defendant and his friend Angelito Reyes Maniego approached Brandt and asked him for a ride. Brandt had given Maniego rides home on several prior occasions, so Maniego was aware that Brandt often dropped off the arcade’s bank deposits after work.

Brandt agreed to give defendant and Maniego a ride. Once inside Brandt’s truck, defendant held a knife to Brandt’s throat and told him that he would not hurt Brandt if Brandt cooperated. Defendant instructed Brandt to drive to Wal-Mart, but Maniego told Brandt to keep driving. Brandt drove to an apartment complex where Maniego took over the driving. After driving for about two hours, defendant told Maniego to find the nearest woods, which Maniego did. They pulled to the side of the road and exited the truck. Defendant told Brandt to remove his shirt, and then walked Brandt into the woods, with Maniego following. Next, defendant took a pair of handcuffs from his backpack and handcuffed Brandt to the largest tree he could find. When the handcuffs broke, defendant claimed Brandt fell unconscious. At some point after he handcuffed Brandt, defendant placed a racquetball in Brandt’s mouth and wrapped electrical tape around his head to secure the ball. Maniego said, “Now just off him,” and handed defendant a knife Maniego had brought from home. Defendant handed the knife back to Maniego, and they argued for several minutes about who should kill Brandt. Ultimately, defendant took the knife and stabbed Brandt approximately 31 times.

Defendant and Maniego then drove Brandt’s truck back to Jacksonville. Once there, they cleaned out the truck and left it in a Wal-Mart parking lot. They disposed of Brandt’s clothes and divided the money from the deposit bags.

Detectives Condry and Fifield investigated Brandt’s disappearance as a missing person case. On 15 August 2000 at 4:00 p.m., the detectives went to defendant’s residence to talk with him because he was one of the last people seen with Brandt. Defendant agreed to go with the detectives to the Jacksonville Police Department. At approximately 4:20 p.m., defendant gave a written statement, in which he said Brandt drove defendant and Maniego home.

Detective Condry told defendant his statement was inconsistent with what Maniego told the police. Defendant then made a second statement to the police telling them that a few hours after Brandt left defendant at defendant’s home, Maniego returned and took defendant down to the waterfront. At the waterfront Maniego showed defendant the bags of money Brandt had been carrying, and offered defendant half the money in exchange for defendant’s silence. Defendant stated that he took half the money and stashed it under a sofa cushion in his home. Based on this statement, the detectives asked defendant if they could search his home for the money. Defendant accompanied the detectives to his home and showed them where he had hidden bundles of cash totaling $892.00 under a sofa cushion. The police then took defendant into custody at which time defendant made a third statement. In this statement, defendant confessed to murdering Brandt.

After defendant’s arrest, defendant and Maniego tried unsuccessfully to help police locate Brandt’s body. Ultimately, police officers used bloodhounds to find Brandt’s body in a swampy, wooded area of Duplin County.

Defendant assigned no errors to the guilt phase of his trial. Therefore, we only review the sentencing phase of his trial for possible error.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1332114.html

Reche Smith North Carolina Death Row

Reche Smith was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Charles King. According to court documents Reche Smith would murder Charles King before stealing money from the residence. Reche Smith would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

North Carolina Death Row Inmate List

Reche Smith 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0379083
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Probation/Parole/Post Release Status:	INACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	AFRICAN
Birth Date:	05/25/1973
Age:	47
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

Reche Smith More News

On 8 March 2002, defendant Reche Smith was convicted of first-degree murder and felony larceny. The jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of malice, premeditation, and deliberation and under the felony murder rule. Following a capital sentencing hearing, the jury recommended a sentence of death for the murder. The trial court accordingly imposed a sentence of death for the murder and further imposed a sentence of fifteen to eighteen months imprisonment for the felony larceny.

The evidence at trial showed the following: At 6:00 a.m. on 10 March 2001, the victim, Charles King (King), was at his home in Plymouth, North Carolina, when defendant knocked on his door. King, wearing a bathrobe and thermal shirt and pants, answered the door, and defendant asked him for a glass of water. King invited defendant into his home and headed toward his kitchen to get the water. However, before King reached the kitchen, defendant grabbed King around his neck and choked him until he became unconscious. Defendant then bound King’s wrists with clear packaging tape, went to another room in King’s house, found a clock, and used the clock’s extension cord first to bind King’s wrists and then his ankles. Next defendant covered King’s entire face, including his nose and mouth, with clear packaging tape and pushed King under a hospital bed. Defendant left King under the bed to die of asphyxiation while he searched King’s house for something to steal. As King lay suffocating under his bed, defendant took $250 from an envelope in King’s bedroom, $20 from King’s wallet, King’s cell phone, bank card, and car keys. After thirty minutes of searching King’s house and stealing these items, defendant took King’s car, drove to Williamston, North Carolina, rented a room at a motel, and bought crack cocaine.

The next day defendant drove King’s car to a local Burger King, where he stole a woman’s purse and drove away. A man at the restaurant saw the license plate number on King’s car as defendant fled the restaurant. A Burger King cashier relayed the license plate number to a police officer.

A short while later, Corporal Scott McDougal of the Williamston Police Department spotted the car defendant was driving. Several officers, including Deputy Jason Branch of the Martin County Sheriff’s Department, pursued defendant. Eventually, defendant stopped his car and fled into the woods, where Deputy Branch overtook him on foot and arrested him.

When Corporal McDougal arrived at the scene of the arrest, he examined the car defendant had been driving. Inside he found the purse defendant had just stolen, a set of keys, a cell phone, a knife, a homemade crack pipe, and a bank card bearing the name Charles King. Corporal McDougal also confirmed that the car defendant drove during the chase belonged to Charles King. The officers took defendant to the Martin County Sheriff’s Department for questioning and later transported him to the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail.

Later on 11 March 2001, defendant called his wife, Rita Smith (Rita), from whom he was separated, and claimed he was in jail for snatching a purse. Defendant then began to cry and told his wife he would never get out of jail because he killed someone in Plymouth. Rita then asked defendant to let her speak to the sheriff. She asked the sheriff why defendant was in jail. The sheriff replied that defendant had stolen a woman’s purse and fled in a car registered to Charles King. After talking with defendant and the sheriff, Rita relayed the story to her mother and speculated that defendant killed King. Rita knew King because she had bought cologne from him in the past. Rita and her mother attempted to call King at his home, but no one answered.

Two days after the murder, Rita relayed the contents of her conversation with defendant to her friend, Brenda Jackson. Rita and Jackson again called King’s home, but no one answered. After receiving no reply from King, Rita and Jackson called Detective John Floyd, Chief of Police in Plymouth, North Carolina. Jackson relayed information to Chief Floyd about defendant’s conversation with Rita. Jackson asked Floyd to go by King’s house to check on King’s whereabouts.

When Chief Floyd and Officer Heather Thompkins arrived at King’s house, they knocked on the doors and received no answer. One officer gained entry to the house through a window and let the other one in through a door. Once inside, they noticed a bedroom had been ransacked. The officers discovered King’s body under a hospital bed.

On 13 March 2001, Dr. Paul Spence, M.D., conducted an autopsy on King at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. The autopsy revealed only one significant external injury, a scratch on King’s left shin. Internal injuries were consistent with manual choking: bruises and bleeding into the muscles surrounding the voice box and bits of hemorrhage inside the structure of the thyroid cartilage. King’s hands were swollen and purple-red in color, indicating King was alive at the time defendant bound him with the tape and electrical cord. Dr. Spence stated that King’s death was caused by asphyxia resulting from blockage of the nose and mouth due to tape bound around the head. In Dr. Spence’s estimation, once defendant placed tape on King’s nose and mouth, King became brain dead in two to three minutes and his heart stopped after ten to twenty minutes. Dr. Spence also determined that King could have remained conscious for a portion of that time. Finally, Dr. Spence testified King could have regained consciousness after defendant choked him and been aware of his condition, but because of his lack of oxygen, King would have been unable to move.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1048907.html

Terrance Campbell North Carolina Death Row

Terrance Campbell was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of William “Buddy” Hall. According to court documents Terrance Campbell would beat to death William “Buddy” Hall before robbing the elderly man. Terrance Campbell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

North Carolina Death Row Inmate List

Terrance Campbell 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0064125
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Probation/Parole/Post Release Status:	INACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	AFRICAN
Birth Date:	09/16/1963
Age:	57
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

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The State’s evidence tended to show that on 3 February 2000 defendant was sitting in a car in a K-Mart parking lot in Aiken, South Carolina. A K-Mart employee, Valerie Green, noticed defendant when she arrived for work at 5:15 p.m. that day. Another K-Mart employee, Gail Wertz, went outside at regular intervals throughout the evening and noticed that defendant was slumped down in the car and that he could see her. Ms. Wertz became concerned that “he was up to no good” and called 911 at approximately 8:45 p.m., fifteen minutes before the store was closing. Employees from the K-Mart tried to get the license plate number, but defendant drove away.

Officer Tracy Saxton of the Department of Public Safety in Aiken, South Carolina, was dispatched to the K-Mart parking lot at approximately 8:50 p.m. A K-Mart employee directed Officer Saxton’s attention to defendant’s car as defendant was leaving the parking lot. Officer Saxton followed defendant from the K-Mart parking lot to a nearby convenience store and pulled her car in behind him at the gas pumps. Defendant had gotten out of the car and was walking toward the convenience store, counting change from a paper bag in his hand. Officer Saxton asked to speak with defendant, and the two met each other about halfway between her vehicle and the store entrance. Defendant told her he had been in the K-Mart parking lot because he was taking a nap. Defendant told Officer Saxton that he was on his way back to North Carolina from a construction job in Columbia, South Carolina, but that he had stopped in Aiken to rest. Officer Saxton asked defendant for his driver’s license, which he could not produce. She then asked him for registration and insurance information on the car, and defendant replied that he did not have it because the car was not his. When pressed for information about the owner of the car, defendant stated that the car belonged to a friend of his who let him borrow the car, but defendant could not remember the friend’s name. Defendant gave his name as “Terry Campbell” to Officer Saxton, who radioed to dispatch to do a driver’s license check. Officer John Gregory arrived at the scene and remained with defendant while Officer Saxton called in the request. The initial check did not find anything on Terry Campbell, so the two officers asked defendant if he had any paperwork with his name on it. After defendant retrieved a pay stub from a bag in the car, Officer Saxton radioed the information to dispatch.

While waiting for a response from dispatch, the officers asked defendant if they could search the car, and defendant consented. Among the items found in the car were two men’s wallets, neither of which belonged to defendant; a few containers, one of which appeared to contain urine; and a radio. In the trunk officers found a .22 caliber rifle, an axe, and some clothes. The wallets contained identification cards in the names of William Arthur Hall and Guy Miles. The officers asked defendant if the rifle was his. Defendant replied that he did not know it was in the car; but when Officer Gregory picked up the rifle, defendant said, “Watch it, it’s loaded.” Officer Gregory cleared the rifle for safety purposes by removing the bullets.

Dispatch notified the officers that defendant’s driver’s license had been suspended in North Carolina. The officers placed defendant under arrest for driving without a South Carolina driver’s license. An inventory of the car was taken. The Aiken Department of Public Safety notified the authorities in Pender County, North Carolina, about the wallets found in the car. Pender County law enforcement officers used the information from the identification cards to conduct well-being checks on the two men whose wallets were found.

Pender County Sheriff’s Deputy Jody Woodcock was dispatched to William Hall’s house. All the doors were locked, but Deputy Woodcock was able to enter through an unlocked kitchen window. The deputy found Mr. Hall dead on the living room floor. Mr. Hall was found on his back with his head partially underneath a small table. Blood was pooled around his head, and cigarette butts and a paper cup were scattered around him. The only clothes on the body were long john bottoms and socks; Mr. Hall’s genitalia were exposed. Blood was spattered on the living room ceiling and walls, including on a tapestry depicting the Last Supper that hung over the couch. Blood was also pooled on the couch. A towel lying on a love seat in the living room had blood on it, as did a table near the couch. In the master bedroom blood smears were found on a pillow lying near the foot of a bed, and bloodstains appeared on the floor. Coins and a pair of men’s trousers were lying on the floor of the bedroom, and coins and loose coin wrappers were found on the bedroom closet floor. Blood also appeared on the door between the living room and the foyer.

Evidence collected at the crime scene and from defendant’s body was sent to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) for DNA testing. DNA profiles taken from the cigarette butts collected from around the victim’s body were consistent with the victim and defendant. Blood found on defendant’s jeans matched the victim’s.

An autopsy performed on the victim revealed approximately eleven blunt trauma wounds to the head. The wounds were found on the front, top, and back of the head along with a skull fracture located under the wounds on the left front of the head. According to John Almeida, M.D., the pathologist who performed the autopsy, the injuries resulted in massive cerebral damage and intercerebral hemorrhage. Dr. Almeida testified that the victim died as a result of these trauma wounds, which were most likely caused by a “heavy cutting instrument.” Several non-fatal wounds were also found on the victim’s left forearm. Dr. Almeida determined that these wounds were defensive in nature. An analysis of the victim’s blood showed no alcohol in his system.

During their investigation of the murder, police found video surveillance tapes showing defendant and the victim together at a Wal-Mart store in Wallace, North Carolina, at approximately 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. on 2 February 2000, the night of the murder. The victim and defendant were also seen together in a videotape purchasing a bottle of gin at an ABC store in Wallace that night.

After defendant was arrested, he was taken to the county jail, where his clothes and personal items were collected. On 4 February 2000 defendant wrote a thirteen page statement in which he gave his version of the events surrounding the murder. On 5 February 2000 defendant waived extradition and was transferred from South Carolina to Pender County, North Carolina.

George Corvin, M.D., an expert in forensic psychiatry, was called as a defense witness and testified that defendant did not suffer from any severe psychiatric illness but that defendant suffered from anxiety and had a history of significant problems with alcohol. Dr. Corvin also testified that defendant had extreme beliefs and fears regarding homosexuality. Additionally, Dr. Corvin stated that defendant felt that being touched by another man, however benignly, was “evil” and “unGodly” and that it would “change your manhood.”

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1467045.html

John Thompson North Carolina Death Row

John Thompson was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for a robbery murder. According to court documents John Thompson would enter a Domino’s Pizza and would murder the manager Kenneth Bruhmuller during the course of a robbery. John Thompson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

North Carolina Death Row Inmate List

John Thompson 2021 Information

Offender Number:	0406487
Inmate Status:	ACTIVE
Probation/Parole/Post Release Status:	INACTIVE
Gender:	MALE
Race:	BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN
Ethnic Group:	AFRICAN
Birth Date:	08/13/1968
Age:	52
Current Location:	CENTRAL PRISON

John Thompson More News

Evidence presented by the State at trial, including video surveillance, indicated that on Saturday, 31 March 2001, defendant entered Domino’s Pizza on South Chapman Street in Greensboro, North Carolina, shortly before the business was to open at 11:00 a.m. Defendant ordered five large pizzas from Kenneth Bruhmuller, the manager and only employee present. Defendant was a former assistant manager at that same Domino’s and knew Bruhmuller. The order was placed in defendant’s first name, “John,” and defendant was charged a discounted price. Bruhmuller and defendant then exited the store.

Domino’s area supervisor, Will Spivey, testified that it was the common practice of Domino’s employees to wash their vehicles at the rear entrance of the building. Spivey also testified that managers usually parked their cars in the alleyway leading to the rear of the building. After defendant and Bruhmuller went outside, Bruhmuller moved his car, which was blocking the alleyway, and defendant backed his car down the alleyway toward the rear of the building. A short time later, defendant was recorded by video surveillance reentering the building, but he soon walked out of view of the lobby area video camera. Several minutes passed before the lobby area camera showed defendant’s car pulling out of the alleyway, after which time the building began to fill with smoke. It was later determined that approximately $195.00 was missing from a cash drawer in the business’ office area.

When other employees arrived around 11:15 a.m., the building was filled with smoke, and flames were rising out of a broken window. The employees opened the front doors, crawled a few feet into the building, and yelled Bruhmuller’s name, but received no response. Greensboro Fire Department personnel responded at the scene shortly thereafter and discovered Bruhmuller’s body on the floor in the office area. Fire Department Captain Gary Church testified that Bruhmuller appeared to have “a fatal wound ․ from a gunshot” or “a wound to the head, from some type of explosion.” Captain David L. Leonard, the arson investigator, believed that the fire originated in the break/storage room area due to the ignition of “readily available material,” on a couch and, after ruling out other causes, concluded that it could only have been started by “human intervention.”

Spivey and assistant manager Kenneth Leland Smith identified defendant as the suspect in the surveillance video taken from inside the store on the day of the fire. Defendant was subsequently arrested and transported to the Greensboro Police Department for an interview.

A pat down search incidental to defendant’s arrest revealed that he was carrying Bruhmuller’s driver’s license and social security card. In a subsequent search, police discovered a knife in defendant’s front right pocket and a spent, twenty-gauge shotgun shell casing in his front left pocket.

Defendant signed a consent form allowing police to search his vehicle. In the trunk, police discovered a sawed-off twenty-gauge Model 37 Winchester shotgun, a short sword, a bayonet with a cover, and a black ski mask. On the floorboard of the car’s interior, police located a piece of crumpled up white paper that matched printer paper used to label pizza boxes found at the scene of the crime. Police also found a bag containing seventeen loose twenty-gauge shotgun shells and an empty, twenty-five-count box of shotgun shells.

After being advised of his Miranda rights and signing a waiver of rights form, defendant gave a statement to Greensboro Police Department Detective Norman Rankin. Defendant said, “I’m sorry Saturday ever happened.” He began crying and said, “That was stupid.” He further stated that his bills were “piling up” and that he could not get a job. Defendant continued, saying “[i]t was an accident. Going to Domino’s was the accident. I went there just to get the money. I planned this when I drove by the store.”

Defendant later told Detective Rankin that he took $200.00 from a drawer in the office, as well as Bruhmuller’s wallet, which contained an additional $20.00 to $25.00. Regarding the killing of Bruhmuller, defendant said that “[i]t’s like the gun fired by itself, ‘cause, I swear, I don’t remember pulling the trigger.” Defendant identified the weapon as a twenty-gauge shotgun that had been “sawed off.” Defendant said that he left the building after it caught on fire, but did not recall setting the fire. According to defendant, he later threw Bruhmuller’s wallet away but kept his driver’s license and social security card. During the interview Detective Rankin wrote what defendant told him verbatim, and defendant then read and signed the written statement. Responding to specific questions posed by Detective Rankin, defendant admitted to robbing Domino’s of $200.00 because he needed money to pay bills, although he denied that the robbery was planned. He admitted to using a shotgun, but stated that the shooting of “Ken” was accidental, and again denied setting the fire.

North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner John D. Butts, M.D. testified concerning the autopsy he performed on Bruhmuller’s body. The autopsy revealed two shotgun entry wounds to Bruhmuller’s facial region, one in the central part of the face and the other in the chin and mouth area. Dr. Butts concluded that the wounds were inflicted from a distance that “was close, but not very, very close ․ consistent with a distance of several feet.” Dr. Butts testified to his opinion that Bruhmuller died as a result of the gunshot wounds, either of which would have been instantaneously fatal. According to Dr. Butts, Bruhmuller’s air passages were not sooty, an indication that he had not inhaled smoke, and the level of carbon monoxide in his blood was inconsistent with someone who had inhaled “combustion product gases” from a fire.

Special Agent David Santora of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation was qualified at trial as an expert in firearm and toolmark identification. Santora testified that he determined the spent shotgun shell casing found in defendant’s pocket was fired from the shotgun found in defendant’s car. Santora also testified that pellets recovered from a pool of blood in the Domino’s office and pellets recovered from Bruhmuller’s head during the autopsy were derived from a gauge of shotgun shell that was “most consistent in size and weight” with the gauge of the unspent shells found in defendant’s car. Santora explained that the firearm found in defendant’s car was a single-action shotgun that holds only one shell at a time. Agent Santora testified that to load this shotgun, “One would insert a live shotgun shell into the barrel, and it would stop, so it was flush with the end. Close the gun. It would lock up. (Demonstrated.) And then the hammer would be manually cocked, and the trigger would be pulled. (Demonstrated.) And that would fire the shotgun shell.” According to Santora, the firearm would have to be reloaded, the hammer cocked, and the trigger pulled between every shot.

During defendant’s capital sentencing proceeding, forensic psychologist Dr. James H. Hilkey testified on defendant’s behalf. According to Dr. Hilkey’s testimony and written evaluation, defendant informed the doctor that on the morning of the crime, he had consumed alcohol and had smoked marijuana. Defendant stated that he drove to a local car wash, but because it was crowded, he decided to wash his car at Domino’s. Defendant said that when he opened his trunk, he saw the shotgun and decided to use it to take enough money to satisfy his bills. He stated that he did not intend to kill Bruhmuller and that the first shot was an accident. When asked about the second shot, defendant said, tearfully, that he knew the first wound was fatal and did not want Bruhmuller to suffer. Dr. Hilkey testified to his opinion that defendant “fits clearly the diagnosis for both alcohol and substance abuse” and, at the time of the killing, defendant “was operating under the influence of a mental or emotional disturbance.”

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-supreme-court/1048953.html