State v. Howell

WHICHARD, Justice.

Defendant was tried capitally for the first-degree murder of Mary Belle Adams. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder on the theories of premeditation and deliberation and torture with malice. Following a capital sentencing proceeding pursuant to N.C.G.S. § I5A-2000, the jury recommended that defendant be sentenced to death, and the trial court sentenced him accordingly.

The victim was a twenty-nine-year-old black prostitute from Hickory whose body was found burning in a Dumpster in eastern Burke County at approximately 4:00 a.m. on 6 June 1992. The body was burned…