jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601
DURHAM -- The man accused of killing a Bull City convenience store worker in February 2005 will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury on Tuesday found him guilty of first-degree murder.
Jurors also found Keith Kidwell guilty of felony larceny stemming from the attack at the 4604 N. Roxboro St. Kangaroo store.
The victim was Crayton Nelms, who at the time of his death was working the overnight shift at the convenience store. He was 44.
The verdict was called long overdue by Harnett County's Claudia Nelms Young Rosser, the victim's sister. She's been waiting nearly five years for closure.
"It took a weight off of me," Rosser said of the verdict.
"Tonight, I'm gon' rest," Rosser said on Tuesday. "I'm just gonna relax.
"Just take it all in," she said.
Rosser cried after deputy clerk Keshia Perry-Foxx read the verdict pertaining to the man convicted of killing her younger brother. Rosser said the jurors' decision also eases the minds of Nelms' son and daughter.
Defense lawyer Lisa Williams in her opening statement and closing argument sought to paint the state's case as very-much lacking. From the very beginning, the state made the matter about seeking to prove Kidwell's guilt instead of going after the truth, Williams claimed.
Williams made the point that it ought to be tough for jurors to swallow what District Attorney Tracey Cline was telling them -- that Kidwell's bloody shoe print was on the back of the victim's vest when no bloody shoe prints were found elsewhere in the store. Cline was trying to convict Kidwell -- he is 25 and had no prior criminal record -- based on a little blood that showed up on the tongue of one of his Nike shoes, Williams explained.
"This investigation is flawed at the core," said Williams, who facetiously offered that if Kidwell had blood on his shoes when he killed Nelms then he must have levitated throughout the convenience store.
Cline told jurors not to feel sorry for sending Kidwell to prison for the rest of his life. At least loved ones will have opportunities to talk with him, to get a smile from him, she said. Nelms' family and friends don't have that luxury, the district attorney said.
"The whole month of this trial, there's been one person missing. There's been one person who could not say a word," Cline said. "He can't cry out for justice."
Despite the holes Williams tried to punch in Cline's argument by pointing toward insufficient evidence, Rosser is certain jurors convicted the right man.
"I am absolutely positive," Rosser said. "I know for sure it was Keith Kidwell."
Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson put the defendant in the hands of courtroom authorities, who led the tall, dreadlocked killer -- who at times during the trial flashed a great smile -- away to a life behind bars.
