Stancil expected to plead not guilty
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 29, 2016 1:46 PM
Kenneth Morgan Stancil III, who is facing a first-degree murder charge for the slaying of Ron Dwight Lane at Wayne Community College in April of last year, is expected to enter in a not guilty plea when he appears in court Wednesday.
"This will be his first court appearance after he has been arraigned," said District Attorney Matt Delbridge.
Stancil and his attorney, Walter Webster, are expected to enter a plea of not guilty at his court appearance, despite Stancil confessing in both a Florida court and Wayne County court to Lane's murder.
Webster could not go into why a not guilty plea was being entered for Stancil.
"That would get into trial strategy, and I can't talk about that right now," Webster said. "I think there's a lot that goes into whether or not he is guilty of first-degree murder."
Delbridge said the court proceedings on Wednesday are likely to be very brief, and the case is expected to be continued after Stancil enters his plea.
The court appearance will be held in courtroom five at 9:30 a.m.
Lane, who was 44 at the time he was murdered, was a printing technician at Wayne Community College. Stancil, who was 20 years old at the time of the murder, allegedly entered the college's print shop around 8 a.m. the morning of April 13, 2015, and fired a single blast from a pistol grip pump-action shot gun, killing Lane, before fleeing the campus.
Stancil then reportedly returned to his home in Dudley, changed clothes and fled on a motorcycle. Stancil's motorcycle was ditched in Lumberton and then he hitchhiked his way to Florida.
He was found sleeping on Daytona Beach by Volusia County Beach patrol officers at 1:20 a.m. on April 14, 2015, and was armed with a knife. Stancil was then arrested and held in the Volusia County Branch Jail in Florida without bond.
Stancil appeared in a Florida court proceeding on April 14 and confessed to the murder of Lane, saying at the time, "All right, I just want you to know I ridded one less (expletive) child molester from the (expletive) world, that (expletive) with my little brother, you know what I'm saying?" Stancil reportedly said in Florida court. "Doing time is the easy (expletive) part, know what I'm saying?"
Stancil was extradited to Wayne County, and his first appearance in a Wayne County court was on April 17, 2015.
If Stancil is convicted of the first-degree murder charge, he could face the death penalty.
Judge Paul Jones will preside over Wednesday's court proceedings.