State v. Barnes

MEYER, Justice.

On 13 November 1990, defendant, William Thomas Barnes, was indicted for the first-degree murder of Jessie William Lemons. Defendant was tried noncapitally in the Superior Court, Rockingham County, in February 1992 and was found guilty. The trial court thereafter imposed the mandatory life sentence.

The evidence presented by the State at trial tended to show the following. On the night of 31 October 1990 at 9:08 p.m., Lieutenant Jerry Pulliam of the Eden Police Department received a call to go to the Central Body Shop on Stadium Drive in Eden, North Carolina. When he arrived at…