jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM — The process of selecting a jury is slated to begin Monday for the trial of the man accused of fatally beating a convenience store worker in February 2005.
Keith Wade Kidwell could get life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Crayton Nelms at the Kangaroo convenience store at 4604 N. Roxboro Road.
On Wednesday. Kidwell’s attorney, Lisa Williams, got him bond. None had been set for Kidwell’s murder charge, Williams said.
As of Wednesday, Kidwell had been locked up for 1,652 days on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle and obtaining property on false pretenses, along with the murder charge. Those lesser charges are related to the murder, and there was a $1 million bond attached to them.
The stolen vehicle belonged to the victim, District Attorney Tracey Cline said. The property obtained on false pretenses has to do with a money order made out to Kidwell, who used to work at the convenience store, she said.
Kidwell’s lawyer noted that her client had no criminal convictions prior to his murder charge, and he’s indigent after being locked up for 4½ years — more time than he ever would serve if convicted of the lower-level felonies, not the murder, Williams said.
Superior Court Judge Orlando F. Hudson said the lower-level felonies aren’t what’s on the mind of District Attorney Tracey Cline.
“I think the murder is what she’s concerned with,” Hudson said.
Williams said her concern is justice for her client, not about whether Kidwell gets out of jail and tastes freedom before his trial gets going next week, Williams explained outside the courtroom. It’s about her client’s judicial rights.
Cline argued that the reason Kidwell’s case has lingered is because he’s gone through so many lawyers. He had six of them prior to Williams.
Such changes delay court proceedings.
As for Kidwell’s bond situation, Cline said he is a flight risk as evidenced by the fact that he fled to Oklahoma in the victim’s stolen truck. And when Kidwell was jailed in Oklahoma, he tried to escape and was on suicide watch, she said, adding that Kidwell is a danger to the community and his bond for the murder charge should be no less than $5 million.
Hudson consolidated the bond for all of Kidwell’s charges and kept him jailed in lieu of $1 million bond.
