PENDER COUNTY, N.C. -- A Wilmington man, twice convicted of murder is about to start his third murder trial, as jury selection began Tuesday in Burgaw.
- James Opelton Bradley will be facing the death penalty this time if convicted of killing another Wilmington woman, Elisha Tucker.
- The Clerk of Court in Pender County says they summoned almost 400 potential jurors but only about 150 of them showed up.
- The county plans on busing their jury pool to Wilmington where the trial will likely take place due to space limitations in Pender County.
James Opelton Bradley will be facing the death penalty this time if convicted of killing another Wilmington woman, Elisha Tucker. Investigators discovered Tucker’s body bound with duct tape and wrapped in trash bags in a shallow grave in a Hampstead field, almost five years ago. He is facing first-degree murder charges in the upcoming trial.
The 56 year old spent nearly 25 years in prison in the 1988 killing of his 8-year-old stepdaughter, and he is currently serving a 30-year sentence on a second-degree murder conviction of his coworker and love interest Shannon Rippy Van Newkirk. She has not been seen or heard from since April 2014, and a body has never been found.
The Clerk of Court in Pender County, Elizabeth Craver, says they summoned almost 400 potential jurors for the trial but only about 150 of them showed up to be part of that pool on Tuesday.
The district attorney Ben David says it may take up to two weeks to pick a jury.
Craver says they are having some space issues in Pender County after Florence shut down their main courthouse.
Wednesday, the county plans on busing their jury pool to Wilmington where the trial will likely take place due to space limitations in Pender County.