Murder trial begins Monday
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on August 21, 2005 2:04 AM
A 28-year-old Goldsboro man will go on trial Monday in Wayne County Superior Court for the first-degree murder of another man outside of a night club.
Leandren Andre Wilson of North Kornegay Street was accused of fatally shooting Corry Lavon Grantham, 26, of Nor-Am Road, Pikeville, on July 11, 2004.
During a pretrial hearing earlier this year, a judge ruled Wilson would not face the death penalty because of evidence in the case. Wilson could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of first-degree murder.
Grantham's body was found near Corporate Drive and Clingman Street. A security guard at the nearby Club Paradise told police he had heard gunshots from outside of the west side of the club. He went to the scene, saw a crowd gather around the body and called police.
Police interviewed witnesses at the night club, and with that information, they developed Wilson as a suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
Wilson's photograph ran the next day in the newspaper. Two days later, a confidential informant, carrying a copy of the newspaper, called Goldsboro-Wayne County Crime Stoppers and said Wilson was in Benson.
After Goldsboro police contacted Benson authorities, a Benson police detective then notified them that Wilson might be in their city. The detective requested a photograph of Wilson. After receiving the photo, Detective Sarah Wilson contacted Goldsboro police Investigator W.P. VanWijk and said the suspect was in custody.
VanWijk and Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Rea of the Greenville office of the State Bureau of Investigation went to Benson to arrest Wilson. He was placed in the Wayne County Jail without bond.
Wilson was indicted by the Wayne County Grand Jury on a charge of first-degree murder and habitual felon status.
Later, Judge Jerry Braswell of Goldsboro set a $350,000 secured bond for Wilson, but the defendant remained in jail.