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Thread: James Powell Sentenced to Four Life Terms in 2017 NC Multiple Murders

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    James Powell Sentenced to Four Life Terms in 2017 NC Multiple Murders


    76-year-old James Whitley and 67-year-old Peggy Whitley (Facebook)


    72-year-old Janice Harris and 88-year-old James Harris






    Halifax County authorities identify quadruple murder victims, reward being offered


    By Angelica Alvarez
    ABC 11 News

    HALIFAX COUNTY, North Carolina (WTVD) -- The Halifax County Sheriff's Office says four people, ages 67 to 88-years-old, have been killed in a home invasion along Fishing Creek Road in the Glenview community.

    Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp said Monday that a family member found the bodies after checking on the home in the Glenview community, just off Interstate 95 north of Rocky Mount.

    The sheriff said two residents of the home and two visitors had been sitting around a kitchen table when they died.

    Authorities identified the homeowners Tuesday morning as 72-year-old Janice Harris and 88-year-old James Harris, as well as their visitors, 76-year-old James Whitley and 67-year-old Peggy Whitley.

    The sheriff did say two of the victims were close friends of his.

    "I knew two of these people personally," Tripp said. "In my 33 years of law enforcement, this is my first quadruple murder."

    "We do have indications a robbery did take place," Tripp said.

    The victims were longtime county residents.

    "All four victims were members of this community and well-known, and well thought of," Tripp said. "You put your emotions aside and you work the case."

    The sheriff says the home was invaded sometime between Sunday and Monday morning, and some items are missing, but there were no signs of a struggle.

    The sheriff said the four victims appeared to have been playing cards at the time.

    Tripp said investigators have gotten some leads from talks with people in the neighborhood. There is no suspect information.

    Authorities are urging motorists in the area to stop driving past the crime scene.

    A $7,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for the quadruple homicide.

    Anyone with information is urged to call Halifax County Sheriff's Office at (252) 583-8201, CrimeStoppers at (252) 583-4444, or SBI at (919) 779-8188.

    Authorities say all information will remain anonymous.

    http://abc11.com/halifax-authorities...fered/2330911/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Enfield man charged in quadruple homicide

    By Staff Reports
    Rocky Mount Telegram

    Halifax County deputies didn’t have to look very far to arrest a suspect in the August shooting deaths of four people in Enfield because he was already locked up in their jail on a separate murder charge from two years ago.

    Matthew Lewis Simms, 25, of Enfield, was charged by the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office with four counts of murder in connection to the Aug. 21 deaths of James and Peggy Whitley and their friends James and Janice Harris. The two couples were killed while they were playing cards in the kitchen of the Harris home at 980 Fishing Creek Road in the Glenview community. Their killer shot them through a glass storm door.

    Simms was previously charged with murder in connection to the June 22, 2015, shooting death of Jarshamel Jaleek Cambridge in Enfield. Rocky Mount police located him back then hiding in an apartment inside a zipped up suitcase.

    Simms was initially held without bond, which is standard in murder cases in Halifax County, however, he bonded out following a couple of court appearances.

    Simms was scheduled to appear in court June 12 in Halifax County, but failed to show up for the hearing. He was in the wind when the Aug. 21 quadruple homicide occurred.

    Deputies were able to capture him Sept. 7, and he was connected to the more recent homicides while in custody, according to Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp.

    Tripp said he believed that the house had been targeted and that the couples’ killings had been gang-related. Robbery is believed to have been the motive in the homicides, as Harris was a gunsmith and licensed firearms dealer.

    Simms has convictions reaching back to 2008 for breaking and entering. He was most recently convicted July 21, 2016, for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a schedule VI controlled substance in Halifax County.

    Simms is being held this time around without bond in the Halifax County Detention Center.

    http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/Po...-homicide.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    2 charged in murders of elderly couples shot while playing cards

    By Crimesider Staff
    CBS News

    HALIFAX, N.C. — Two men have become the second and third suspects charged with murder in the deaths of four elderly people shot while playing cards in August, reports CBS affiliate WNCN.

    Keyon Quarice West, 23, and James Edward Powell, 25, both of Roanoke Rapids, were charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 21, 2017 deaths of Janice Harris, 72, James Harris, 88, James Whitley, 76, Peggy Whitley, 67. The victims, two couples, were killed during an apparent home invasion, according to police.

    Matthew Simms, of Enfield, was arrested in October and is also charged in connection with the quadruple killing. Simms was awaiting trial on a separate killing at the time of the slayings in Enfield, but had bonded out and then failed to appear for court, according to online records.

    Powell was charged soon after he was arrested in connection with a separate killing, which occurred this past Saturday in Roanoke Rapids, where one man died and another was critically injured in a shooting.

    Authorities have not said what links the suspects to each other or the quadruple murder. Investigators believe that items were stolen from the home, but have declined to say what was taken. One of the victims, James Harris, was registered to run a firearms business from the home where the killings happened.

    Authorities have also said they believe the home was specifically targeted.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-charg...playing-cards/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    4th suspect charged in Halifax County quadruple murder

    By CBS17.com Staff

    ENFIELD, N.C. (WNCN) - A fourth person has been charged in connection with the August 2017 quadruple murder in Enfield, authorities confirmed.

    Dontayvious Devonte Cotton, aka “Moochie”, 24, of Weldon faces four charges of murder, one charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one charge of burglary, Sheriff Wes Tripp said.

    He was already in custody at the Halifax County Jail on separate charges unrelated to the quadruple murder.

    Keyon Quarice West, 23, and James Edward Powell, 25, both of Roanoke Rapids, and Matthew Simms, of Enfield, are also charged in the killings, according to authorities.

    All four are charged in connection with the Aug. 21, 2017 murder of James and Janice Harris along with James and Peggy Whitley.

    Authorities say two couples were playing cards in a home when the killings happened.

    Powell was already facing charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with a Saturday killing in the area of Deer Run Drive in Roanoke Rapids, according to a social media post by Halifax County Sheriff Tripp.

    Simms was awaiting trial on a separate killing at the time of the slayings in Enfield, but had bonded out and then failed to appear for court, according to online records.

    http://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news...der/1135915980
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutors allowed to seek death penalty in Halifax County quadruple murder

    By CBS 17 News Staff

    HALIFAX, N.C. (WNCN) - A Halifax County judge approved the prosecution's requests to seek the death penalty against three of four men charged in the August 2017 quadruple murder in Enfield.

    Prosecutors want to pursue the death penalty for all four suspects but the judge couldn't grant the request for Keyon Quarice West since their lawyer wasn't present Wednesday.

    Dontayvious Devonte Cotton, 24, Keyon Quarice West, 23, and James Edward Powell, 25, both of Roanoke Rapids, and Matthew Simms, of Enfield, are all in the killings, according to authorities.

    Authorities say James and Janice Harris and James and Peggy Whitley were playing cards in a home when they were shot and killed on Aug. 21, 2017.

    Authorities believe the home was specifically targeted and that the killings were gang-related.

    CBS 17 will update this story as it develops.

    http://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news...der/1194450219
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Claiming innocence, Glenview defendant waits for new attorney; three face capital proceedings

    By Lance Martin
    rrspin.com

    Keyon West declared his innocence today in the murders of four elderly friends who played cards in the Glenview community last summer.

    He and the other three defendants in the case made appearances in Halifax County Superior Court as District Attorney Valerie Mitchell Asbell announced the state intended to seek the death penalty against them.

    Halifax County Superior Court Judge Alma L. Hinton granted Asbell’s motion on three of the defendants — Matthew Simms, James Powell and Dontavious Cotton.

    The district attorney said in a statement she was prepared to go forward with what is known as a Rule 24 hearing on West, but his attorney of record was not present.

    Asbell did put her intention to seek the death penalty against West on record and Hinton requested another attorney be appointed to represent him.

    The state will move forward with the hearing on West in June when his new attorney can be present.

    West’s claims of innocence came during discussions of the situation with his attorney in open court.

    Asbell said there has been no phone calls from the attorney assigned to represent West and that he has not downloaded discovery in the case.

    West told Hinton he had only heard from the attorney once and that was in February.

    After the judge briefly discussed the case with him, West said, “I don’t know anything.”

    When Hinton told him she was going to appoint an Indigent Defense Services attorney, West said, “I’m innocent.”

    Simms was the first to appear in the courtroom, followed by Cotton, West and Powell.

    In explaining why she sought the death penalty in the cases of Simms, Cotton and Powell, Asbell told Hinton there are at least one or more aggravating factors against the men which would allow the state to proceed capitally. State law, she said in the statement, allows the prosecution to seek the death penalty when there is at least one aggravating factor beyond a shadow of a doubt.

    She did not expound on those factors in court and declined to discuss them following the proceedings.

    In her statement, she said, “Each murder charge represents a heinous and atrocious act committed on one of the four murder victims and is sufficient to warrant a death penalty trial. We intend to prosecute each defendant and each crime charged to the fullest extent of the law.”

    She said “our thoughts and prayers continue to go out” to the families and James and Janice Harris and James and Peggy Whitley.

    Bob Dees, Janice Harris’ son, said following the proceedings, “We want them to get the death penalty, definitely, either that or life without parole.”

    Cotton was indicted for the murders last month while the three other defendants were indicted in March.

    The earlier indictments against Simms, West and Powell were the first to give a few more details of the case, saying the three men allegedly stole an assortment of handguns, shotguns and rifles from the Harris residence. The indictments also say the men allegedly committed first-degree burglary by entering the house while it was occupied by the two couples.

    The crimes were committed, the indictment notes, through use of a dangerous weapon by each of the defendants.

    Prior to the certification of the true bills of indictment, the only information to be divulged in the case was that items of value were missing from the Harris residence and the motive was robbery.

    The four were shot through a glass door while they sat playing cards at the dining room table. All the victims died at the table after they were shot multiple times.

    https://rrspin.com/roanoke-rapids-we...oceedings.html
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    Judge approves death penalty trial for the final defendant in Enfield quadruple homicide

    By Amanda Lamb
    WRAL News

    HALIFAX, N.C. - Halifax County prosecutors can pursue capital murder cases against all four men charged with killing two couples in an Enfield home in 2017.

    Matthew Lewis Simms, 26, of Enfield, Keyon Quarice West, 25, and James Edward Powell, 26, both of Roanoke Rapids, and Dontayvious Devonte "Moochie" Cotton, 25, of Weldon, all face four counts of first-degree murder.

    Janice Harris, James Harris, Peggy Whitley and James Whitley were shot on Aug. 21, 2017, while sitting at the Harrises' kitchen table playing cards, authorities said.

    Superior Court Judge Alma Hinton agreed last May that there was enough evidence against Simms, Powell and Cotton to declare them capital cases. But a hearing in West's case was postponed because he changed attorneys.

    West's attorneys said in court Wednesday that the state has "very weak evidence of guilt" against him, noting he was implicated in the case by Powell. They also argued that the death penalty is unconstitutional in the case because West is black, the four victims were white and Halifax County has a history of racial discrimination in handing down death sentences.

    But Hinton rejected that claim and ruled there was enough evidence against West to pursue a possible death sentence against him.

    "It's just hard to wrap your mind around the fact that they could give your son the death penalty for what somebody else said," Latisha Whitaker, West's mother, said after the court hearing.

    Whitaker said she doesn't believe her son was involved in the crime, calling him the "backbone for our entire family" and a loving father.

    "Keyon is a good kid. He's my oldest son. He has a family out here that loves him. He's not that type of person. I can't being to understand why this is happening," she said. "I've got to try to be strong for everybody, because I know I have to be strong for him, and this is a lot."

    Authorities said a family member found the four bodies while checking on the Harrises at their Fishing Creek Road home in the Glenview community west of Enfield. Some items were missing from the home, but there were no apparent signs of a struggle, authorities said at the time.

    Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp has said that the home might have been targeted and the killings might have been gang-related. But authorities have provided few details of their investigation and what led them to the four suspects.

    Jim Harris, 88, was a gunsmith and had a federally licensed firearm business that he ran out of his home.

    James Whitley, 76, was a farmer and his 67-year-old wife a former hairstylist. Janice Harris, 72, was an administrative assistant for a local builder.

    "We just want justice for the family and for the people in North Carolina, [so] you can shut your doors at night and be safe in your homes," said Robert Dees, the Harrises' son.

    "It's one thing to know your parents are sick and you can say good-bye. But [it's hard when] you never get the chance to say good-bye or make more memories, and our family was very close," said the Harrises' daughter, Debbie, who didn't want to provide her last name.

    "They were a loving family, and for somebody to do something like this is beyond belief – beyond belief," Debbie's husband, Donald, said, adding that she still breaks down when the shootings are discussed.

    The case is back in court in March. It remains to be seen whether the four defendants will be tried together or separately and whether any of them will testify against the others.

    https://www.wral.com/judge-approves-...cide/18142887/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #8
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    Joy for 2 families, pain for another as charges are dropped in Enfield quadruple murder

    By Cullen Browder
    WRAL News

    HALIFAX, N.C. — Murder charges have been dropped against three of four men accused of killing two couples as they played cards in Enfield in August 2017.

    Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp told WRAL News that James Edward Powell had changed his story, recanting accusations against his three co-defendants, and charges against those men were dropped.

    Powell implicated three others – Matthew Lewis Simms, of Enfield, Keyon Quarice West, of Roanoke Rapids, and Dontayvious Devonte "Moochie" Cotton, of Weldon. All four were charged with first-degree murder and have been held without bail in the Halifax County jail since their arrests in the spring of 2018.Had the cases gone to trial, all four faced the death penalty.

    After their charges were dropped, Simms and West were released from jail, reuniting Friday afternoon with joyful families.

    "Innocent. five years. You heard me? I've been telling them, day one. Innocent," said Simms as he walked out of the Halifax County Jail, cleared of the first degree murder charge that had kept him there since 2017.

    Minutes earlier, another former suspect, Keyon West, did the same.

    "I'm glad that the truth came to the light that I'm an innocent man," West said. "It's messed up I had to go through this and be away from my family, but we made it."

    His mother, Latisha Whitaker, said, "We stuck together. We maintained and we always believed in him. There's never been a doubt. Not one day."

    There is no joy, no end to the pain for Amanda Duncan, who found her grandparents, James and Janice Harris, along with their friends James and Peggy Whitley, dead over a hand of cards five years ago.

    "I'm angry. I'm beyond words," Duncan said. "I can't even put into words the hurt and pain that is going through our family right now."

    Whitaker said she can feel Duncan's pain. "They were all victims in this," she said. "There's no winner in this. My son is home, but it still doesn't bring their family back."

    While today was full of joyful reunions, the now-freed men also know they’ll never get back the time they lost.

    "We’re going to try and get some justice for the years I lost first and foremost," said Simms. "After that, I don’t know."

    Affidavit: James Powell coerced by detectives into accusing 3 men

    WRAL News obtained a copy of the affidavit from James Powell changing his story.

    In the statement, Powell says that he only accused Cotton and West in the murder after Halifax County detectives pushed him to cooperate in exchange for a chance at a lighter sentence.

    And that he repeatedly told detectives the accusation was a false statement. The affidavit doesn’t mention Simms.

    What’s also notable is the date: Powell's statement is signed August 26, 2021.

    WRAL News reached out to the Halifax County District Attorney to ask why it took more than five months to release Simms and West after Powell changed his story.

    So far they have not responded.

    WRAL News spoke with Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp and asked about Powell's accusation that he was coerced by detectives into accusing the other men.

    The sheriff had no comment.

    Sheriff: Evidence links Powell to four murders

    WRAL News obtained a copy of Powell's statement in which he claims to have been coerced into confessing by a sheriff's investigator.

    Tripp said that Powell has admitted his involvement in the murders and physical evidence also links him to the deaths.

    The murder charges were dismissed against Cotton, but he was being held at Central Prison on charges from another case, in which he has $75,000 bond.

    Duncan says she's frustrated, not because she thinks guilty men are walking free, but because she was led to believe investigators built a better case.

    "I'm frustrated because it wasn't a strong case to begin with," she said. "If they can't even say that these were the ones that did it, how can I call them a killer? It's innocent until proven guilty."

    At a hearing on the case in January 2019, West's attorney questioned the role that race played in the arrests and charges. Powell and the four victims are white. The three men implicated by Powell and set free by his new statement are Black.

    https://www.wral.com/enfield-murders...ssed/20116787/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
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    Man gets 4 life sentences in North Carolina killings

    By Chloe Rafferty
    WBTW News

    The Halifax County district attorney’s and sheriff’s offices called the crimes violent and senseless.

    “The horror that these three families have had to endure is unimaginable,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

    An Alford plea allows a defendant to admit guilt toward charges in criminal court while also expressing innocence toward the same charges.

    Halifax County deputies said Powell’s plea and evidence in the two cases support Powell’s involvement in the crimes. They also said authorities do not have any other evidence connecting anyone else to the crimes.

    The reassurance comes after charges were dropped in February 2022 for three of four people originally identified as suspects in the 2017 quadruple murders.

    “The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office prays that today’s court action brings about some semblance of closure for these three families,” Halifax County Sheriff Tyree Davis. “They have had to endure many years of pain and suffering and we only hope that they find some comfort in Powell’s plea.”

    https://www.wbtw.com/news/state-regi...lina-killings/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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