Prominent city defense attorney, 60, dies
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on October 2, 2008 1:48 PM
Bruce Hulse
Police have launched an investigation into the death of a prominent local criminal defense attorney, who was found dead Wednesday night in the back yard of his brother, also a long-time Goldsboro criminal defense attorney.
A Goldsboro police report shows that Herbert "Bruce" Hulse, 60, known for the impeccably groomed handlebar mustache he sported, was found unresponsive around 9:30 p.m. at 1513 E. Mulberry St., the home of his brother, Geoff Hulse, who was at home when the emergency call was issued.
An ambulance was dispatched to the home, and Bruce Hulse was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Goldsboro police
investigative bureau was immediately contacted, and Investi-gator Doug Bethea was been assigned to to the case.
Bethea will not be working on his own, however, as state officials already have become involved.
Goldsboro police Chief Tim Bell said that the State Bureau of Investigation was contacted in investigating the death.
"Right now, we just have a death investigation going on," Bell said. "I've been in contact with the SBI out of Greenville. They're going to be assisting us on this case."
An autopsy has been ordered, but Hulse's body has not yet been transported to state Chief Medical Examiner John Butts' office in Chapel Hill, police Sgt. Chad Calloway said.
Bruce Hulse, whose home was on Overbrook Road, operated his own law firm on Walnut Street.
Attorney John Dees was a close friend and golfing companion of Hulse.
"He was just unique, I guess," Dees said this morning. "He liked being different."
Dees described Hulse as a "reliable friend" and as a good family man.
"He cared a great deal for the members of his family," Dees said.
Hulse is survived by his wife, Betsy, and three children, a son and two daughters. His father, the late Herbert Hulse, was also a well-known lawyer for many years, and Bruce Hulse continued to operate his practice under the name Hulse & Hulse.