Perkins gets more than 20 years for murdering cousins
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Jan 18, 2007 : 10:41 pm ET
DURHAM -- Donte Lejuan Perkins pleaded guilty Thursday to fatally shooting his two cousins -- one of whom was pregnant -- and was sentenced to between 20 and more than 26 years in prison.
Perkins said nothing on his own behalf during the hearing in Durham County Superior Court, choosing not to explain the killings or apologize for them. Instead, he let his lawyer do the talking.
Assistant District Attorney David Saacks conceded that Perkins "clearly was suffering from some kind of mental illness." -cut-
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-810573.cfm
Four murder suspects indicted
By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun, Jan 17, 2007 : 11:08 pm ET
DURHAM -- Four men were indicted by the county grand jury this week on murder charges, including two who allegedly participated in a "contract killing" for which $10,000 was said to have changed hands.
The indicted suspects are Lee Brewer, Daniel Fraley, Angel Luis Richardson and Lemuel "Zeke" Sherman.
Indictments officially move criminal cases into the Superior Court system, where they eventually will go to trial or be plea-bargained.
Brewer and Fraley are accused in the 1999 slaying of 63-year-old Charles Johnson, who was found lying in a pool of blood inside his Virgie Street home. At the time, investigators said they retrieved marijuana plants and two weapons from the house.
The other two men indicted this week, Richardson, 20, and Sherman, 23, are charged in the purported contract killing.
Investigators contend they gunned down 23-year-old Marlon Rand last month.
Police reports indicated that Rand was at his car on North Street, the street on which he lived, when a man approached and shot him. The victim tried to run but collapsed and died of multiple gunshot wounds behind a drug rehabilitation facility on the same street.
Sherman and Rand reportedly knew each other.
Without elaborating, prosecutor Tracey Cline said in court recently that she believed $10,000 was paid for a "hit" on Rand.
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-810191.cfm