Jeanette Nancy Merritt Thut
Death penalty still in play for duo charged in 2014 Columbus County killings
By Deuce Niven
The Fayetteville Observer
WHITEVILLE - Suspects in the slayings of two women more than a year ago were told they could face the death penalty as they appeared before a judge for the first time Thursday.
Justin Gray Reynolds, 28, who has had addresses on Bitmore Road in Brunswick and most recently on Lee Ward Road in Nakina, and Megan Alicia Haynes, 27, of Howard Cox Road in Tabor City, were each charged late
Wednesday with two counts of murder in the October 2014 killings of Jeanette Nancy Thut, 74, and Donna Lee Gore, 55, at their home on Blacksmith Road near Bolton.
Reynolds was Gore's son, a news release from the Columbus County Sheriff's Office said.
Grisly find
Family members who had last seen Thut on Oct. 24, 2014, reported her missing 11 days later, on Nov 4. A deputy who went to Thut's home, while looking around the grounds, noticed a "foul odor" coming from a storage building, Columbus County District Attorney Jon David said during a first appearance hearing for Reynolds.
Detectives found the bodies of both women inside that building, David said, Thut wrapped in a piece of carpet or blanket with 15 to 17 stab wounds. Gore was found on the concrete floor. She had been strangled to death, the prosecutor said.
Sheriff's detectives working on the case developed new leads and evidence just this week, David said.
"The wheels of justice turn slow," David said earlier Thursday, "but justice never sleeps."
Motive
Determining motive isn't necessary in a criminal case, David said during a news conference held just before the court hearings.
"You can chase motive all over the courtroom and never catch it," David said.
David would not discuss motive or details of the killings during the news conference.
"We do our talking in the courtroom," he said.
David alluded to theft, and the possibility of getting caught, as a motive during the hearing.
Reynolds and Haynes were living in a mobile home on the Thut property at the time of the killings, David said. He said Thut had discovered that the young couple had stolen some of her property, and "was in the process of notifying the Columbus County Sheriff's Office when she was killed."
Both Reynolds and Haynes took property from the Thut home and sold it at pawn shops in the days following her death, David said. Haynes also is facing credit card fraud charges in Bladen County, accused of using Thut's credit card in Elizabethtown after her death, the prosecutor said.
Death penalty
A "death penalty panel" made of up senior prosecutors will meet in the coming weeks to determine whether the state will seek the death penalty against Reynolds, Haynes or both, David said. That decision could come in about a month, he said.
Though both Reynolds and Haynes were calm before the judge, Haynes appeared confused and sad, and Reynolds could be heard cursing after he was escorted by deputies out of the courtroom.
No bail
District Court Judge Pauline Hankins heard Reynolds' charges first, and appointed Harold G. "Butch" Pope to represent him.
Retired Superior Court Judge William C. "Bill" Gore was appointed to represent Haynes, after declining to represent Reynolds. Gore explained that he'd already represented Haynes in another case.
Pope asked Hankins for a "reasonable bond" for Reynolds, noting that no decision has been made on seeking the death penalty.
Hankins denied Pope's request, ordering that Reynolds remain in custody without bail.
Gore, after hearing David outline specifics of the case during Reynolds' hearing, said he would "stipulate" to no bail for his client, eliminating the need for the prosecutor to explain why bail should be denied.
David agreed, but quickly added that Haynes had tried to escape through a rear window of her home when deputies came to arrest her, eliciting an excited "objection" from Gore that abruptly halted the prosecutor's explanation.
Probable cause hearings for both Reynolds and Haynes are scheduled Feb. 25.
http://www.fayobserver.com/news/crim...65bfe3512.html
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