Cheryl Bethea
Ferjus Bernard Moore
Winston-Salem man accused of fatally stabbing girlfriend faces death penalty
By Michael Hewlett
The Winston-Salem Journal
A Forsyth County judge approved a request for Forsyth County prosecutors to seek the death penalty against a Winston-Salem man accused of stabbing his girlfriend 39 times outside her house last year.
Ferjus Bernard Moore, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Cheryl Annise Bethea, 43, on Aug. 25, 2014. Authorities said that Bethea and Moore had dated for about three years and had been living together in her house at 305 Upton St., near Stratford Road.
Judge Edwin Wilson of Forsyth Superior Court approved the request during what is called a Rule 24 hearing. Assistant District Attorneys Jennifer Martin and Matt Breeding made the request in front of Wilson.
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill said after the hearing that prosecutors sought the death penalty based on two aggravating circumstances – that Moore had previously been convicted of a violent felony and that the alleged murder was “especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.” O’Neill said Bethea was stabbed 39 times. Moore served four years in prison on a 1999 armed robbery conviction. He was released in 2003.
According to Winston-Salem police, Bethea and Moore were arguing outside Bethea’s house when Moore stabbed her. Bethea’s daughter and grandson were inside the house at the time of the incident.
According to a search warrant, Moore was found outside on top of Bethea. Moore was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for lacerations. Police seized a knife at the scene, according to the search warrant.
Moore has been convicted four times on charges of misdemeanor assault on a female — once in 1989, twice in 1995 and once again in 2007.
None of those assaults involved Bethea, who worked as an operations clerk at Wells Fargo and was an active member of Mount Calvary Holy Church.
No trial date has been set.
http://www.journalnow.com/news/local...db4b5df43.html
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