That they might know each other (have been or are friends?) would certainly explain some things.....
Multiple murder case has hearing
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Nov 30, 2006
DURHAM -- Quadruple murder charges against an admitted drug trafficker began their journey through the court system Wednesday, with District Attorney Mike Nifong giving defense attorneys 1,563 pages of documents about the case.
Nifong, who announced earlier he would seek the death penalty against defendant Rodrick Vernard Duncan, said the defense team would receive a total of 3,000 to 4,000 pages by Friday.*
He also promised lawyers Barry Winston and Thomas Maher that they would receive "numerous video files" soon.
Defendants facing possible capital punishment are entitled by law to two court-appointed attorneys if they cannot afford counsel of their own.
The 27-year-old Duncan did not attend Wednesday's brief court hearing. He is in custody for federal drug crimes, to which he has admitted guilt.
The quadruple murder charges arose from a Nov. 19, 2005, incident at a townhouse in the Breckenridge subdivision off Hope Valley Road.
Killed that day were Lennis Harris Jr., 24; LaJuan Coleman, 27; Jamal Holloway, also 27; and Jonathan Skinner, 26. All were from Durham except Skinner, who lived in Raleigh.
Harris and Skinner were cousins.
The four were found on the floor of a second-story bedroom, each with a bullet wound to the head.
In addition, 22-year-old Allen Shuler was wounded by gunfire.
A sixth man, Nacoree Upchurch, 27, reportedly escaped the bullets by leaping from a window onto a patio.
In a news conference last month, Police Chief Steve Chalmers said he believed the crimes were "drug-motivated."
"Multiple individuals were involved in this," Chalmers added, hinting that more arrests might follow.
Chalmers would not say whether he believed Duncan was the triggerman.
"In the 28 years that I have been in Durham County, this is by far the most egregious single act of violence that has occurred in this county," Nifong said during the same news conference. "And I don't recall having heard or read about anything prior to my arriving here that in any way approaches this in terms of overall violence, destruction of human life."
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-793981.html
* The DA ain't wasting time handing over discovery on this one. Maybe it is because he has some real evidence.