Posted on 10/10/2010 4:09:13 PM PDT by murdoog
A Mount Holly man who was scheduled to go to trial Monday for the 2008 murder of a UNC Charlotte student has reportedly died of a heart attack.
Neal Leon Cassada Jr., 55, of Mount Holly, was to be tried on charges of felony conspiracy and first-degree murder for the death of Ira Yarmolenko. But that trial, which was expected to last about two weeks, will never happen now, said Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell.
Bell said he was notified by Gaston County Police Capt. Joe Ramey late Sunday morning that Cassada had died at home, where he was out on bail.
"We are looking into it to see if there could be any foul play, or whether it was suicide," said Bell. "At this point, once I receive written confirmation of his death, I’ll dismiss the case."
Cassada's cousin and co-defendant, Mark Bradley Carver, 42, of Gastonia, faces the same charges. His trial was not scheduled to start until next year, and Bell said it will not be moved up.
"With all the things that have just happened, it's impossible for me to give a date," said Bell. "I schedule big cases out often six months in advance, so it's not like I can suddenly just plop it in right away, because we have other cases set every court week throughout the next six months."
Bell said he and his two assistants have spent "hundreds and hundreds of hours" preparing for Cassada's trial.
"That’s by my two assistants alone," he said. "That's not even counting the rest of law enforcement."
Check back at gastongazette.com for updates on this story.
I don't even know how to feel about this. I do know that there were a lot of murky details and unanswered questions a trial might have resolved. Maybe the second trial can do that.
Being dead, he can’t attack anyone else. I agree, though, that a trial *should* make clear what happened ... but you never know.
Boy was he lucky, getting away with a murder charge.
I thought their were two perps?
There you dummy.
David Cassada (now dead) and his cousin Mark Carver were charged with first-degree murder and felony conspiracy in the death of 20-year-old Irina Yarmolenko.
Carver’s trial is set for early next year.
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