For better or for worse:
Couples married over 60 years
share stories of lives together
Rage 2
Sports update
Page 9
February 12, 2003
Vof. 71, No. 7 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
2/J(W2003.
P6/C5***********_
^ ACADE]^ ST^ i-ibrary
PEkvi^E.-ANS
Weekly
sr
^BUEtVED
FFR / ^ 2iJUj
DeGray guilty of attempted murder
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A Perquimans County
man wUl spend the next 17-
23 years in prison serving
active sentences for
attempted murder and bur
glary.
Matthew Roy DeGray, 24,
pleaded guilty to first
degree attempted murder
and first degree burglary
for the May 18, 2002 beating
and stabbing of his former
girlfriend. The attack
occured after DeGray broke
into the 21-year-old
woman’s home on Oliver
Street at Bethel Fishing
Center.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
TiUey said at the time of
DeGray’s arrest that his
victim was in surgery for
Hertford man
charged with
rape, kidnap
SUSAN R. HARRIS
A Hertford man is await
ing trial in Albemarle
District Jail on multiple
charges including rape and
kidnapping.
James David Nichols, 25,
of 207 Woodland Street,
Hertford, was arrested on
Feb. 5 and charged with sec
ond degree forcible rape,
first degree kidnapping,
assault on a juvenile and
domestic violence assault
on a female. He is currently
being held under a $150,000
secured bond.
Hertford Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy said Nichols
is a registered sex offender,
having served time for
charges in Randolph
County. He did register
with the sheriff’s depart
ment upon moving to
Hertford early last summer.
The case began to unfold
around 8 p.m. on Feb. 4
when officers from
Vanscoy’s department were
called to the central com
munications office where
they were met by a female,
a juvenile and an adult
male, Vanscoy said.
The female, a 22-year-old,
told officers that she had
been sexually assaulted at
207 Woodland Street on the
evening of Feb. 3.
Vanscoy said that
Nichols allegedly lured the
female victim and a 12-year-
old male into his home. The
victim and the youth told
officers that Nichols had
taken the victim into an
upstairs room, then told the
12-year-old to leave and lock
the door behind him. The
12-year-old did leave, but
did not lock the door. He
said he heard a scuffle in
the room in a couple of
minutes, and opened the
door to find Nichols
allegedly sexually assault
ing the victim.
The juvenile ran down
stairs and got another adult
male who lives in the
house. The pair went back
upstairs, where they said
they found the door locked.
The adult broke into the
room and allegedly puUed
Nichols off of the female.
The adult male told offi
cers he held Nichols while
the female and the juvenile
left the room.
Nichols allegedly chased
the 12-year-old down the
street and choked him for
teUing what he had seen.
Vanscoy added that
Nichols also allegedly pro
vided alcohol and tobacco
products to minors at the
Woodland Street residence.
During the investiga
tion, officers discovered
that Nichols’ wife, who also
lives at the residence and is
mentally challenged, had
allegedly been assaulted by
Nichols on the night of the
other incidents.
Vanscoy said his depart
ment has received com
plaints of young girls being
solicited by a white male in
the Woodland Street area
and have investigated, but
to date have been unable to
tie Nichols to any of the
complaints.
The earlier incidents are
still under investigation,
Vanscoy said. He added
that the case may extend to
other counties.
over 6 hours to repair the
damage from the attack.
“There were stab
wounds and cut wounds all
over her body,’’ Tilley said
at that time.
The woman was some
how able to get to a neigh
bor’s house for help after
the attack.
According to informa
tion gathered during the
investigation, DeGray and
his victim had lived togeth
er and have a child. DeGray
had moved out of the home
he shared with the woman,
and had moved into a resi
dence with another female
on Levi Creecy Road. His
former girlfriend got a pro
tective order against
DeGray after he moved out
of her residence.
DeGray was arrested
within hours of the inci
dent. He was held in
Albemarle District Jail
under a $125,000 secured
bond set by Judge Grafton
Beamon until his trial date
in Perquimans County
Superior Court in early
February. He was sen
tenced by Superior Court
Judge J. Richard Parker.
Daily Advance photo by SAM WOLFE
North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Bill Cobey (left) speaks with Cynthia
Partridge (right) at Perquimans County High School Saturday evening.
Cobey speaks at Regan Day Dinner
ROBERT SHILES
The Daily Advance
The fact that
Republicans couldn't
muster enough votes in the
state House to gain control
of the powerful speaker's
position is the party's own
fault, BUI Cobey, chairman
of the North Carolina
Republican Party said
Saturday.
“We fumbled the baU...
We couldn't get our act
together,” Cobey said. “We
deserve a Republican
speaker of the House... I
had urged (GOP legisla
tors) to get behind one per
son (for speaker), but it did
n't happen.”
Cobey was the keynote
speaker at the Perquimans
County Republican Party's
third annual Reagan Day
Dinner. He joined about 100
local Republicans in honor
ing Reagan, a man that he
described as a “great presi
dent... and a great man
with a tremendous amount
of confidence and humili
ty.”
“In his presence, he
made you feel like the most
important person in the
world,” said Cobey, who
served a term in the U.S.
House of Representatives
during the Reagan
Administration..
“(Members of the
Republican Party) stand on
the shoulders of Ronald
Reagan,” he added.
Cobey acknowledged
that he is doubtful a House
co-speakership during the
current state legislative
session will be in the state's
best interest. The current
Senate and House legisla
tive session, he said, will be
extremely difficult — espe
cially in the House where
co-speakers Jim Black, D-
Mecklenburg, and Richard
Morgan, R-Moore, wUl have
to lead the 60 Democrats
and 60 Republicans
through a number of
important issues, issues
Cobey emphasized wUl be
driven by the state budget.
“I'm hoping our caucus
can come together, but
some (members) won't,” he
said.
As for rifts in his own
party. Cobey told the area
Republicans he couldn't
Continued on page 12
Hertford Council moves to slow down town’s speeders
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Hertford Town Council
approved a three-pronged
motion by Councilwoman
JoAnn Morris to more
strictly enforce speed lim
its in town in regular ses
sion Monday night.
The motion was amend
ed to include an additional
provision suggested by
Mayor Sid Eley.
The four parts of the
motion, which passed with
one dissenting vote by
Councilman Marvin
Hunter Sr., are:
1. enforce the speed lim
its as posted within 3-5
mUes per hour at the dis
cretion of police officers;
2. to publish notices of
strict enforcement in both
The Perquimans Weekly
and The DaUy Advance ;
3. town law officers wiU
give warning tickets for 10
days, then begin to issue
speeding tickets; and
4. place signs at the
entrances to the town read
ing “speed limits strictly
enforced.”
Morris had first pro
posed that speed limits be
enforced with a zero toler
ance policy, but agreed to
amend her original propos
al after discussion.
Morris said that there is
a difference in driving five
miles an hour over the
speed limit on the open
highway and in town,
where pedestrian traffic,
parked cars and congestion
make speeding more dan
gerous.
Eley asked Police Chief
Dale Vanscoy about the
effectiveness of radar.
The chief said officers
attend radar certification
school. During these class
es, they are taught to judge
the speed of a vehicle by
observation as well as to
use the radar equipment.
Vanscoy said Tuesday
that the pitch of radar gets
higher the faster a car upon
which it is focused is travel
ing. When an officer
observes a vehicle he
believes to be speeding, he
activates the radar, and by
looking at the car and lis
tening to the pitch of the
radar, makes a determina
tion of speed, then locks in
the radar to determine
speed.
He said that radar is a
tool to reinforce the deter
mination an officer makes.
At present, two of
Hertford police officers are
radar certified.
The school is a week:
long course, and Vanscoy
tries to send officers to the
closest school, which is in
Kill Devil Hills. There is
another course at Wilson
Community College.
The problem with send
ing officers for certification
is manpower. Vanscoy said
when an officers is sent to
school for a week, another
officer must work those
hours, resulting in over
time.
In addition, officers
DeGray was sentenced to
157-198 months for the
attempted murder charge
and 64-86 months for the
burglary charge. He is to
serve the sentence for one
conviction, then at its expi
ration, he will serve the
other sentence.
TUley said DeGray wiU
soon be transported to
Central Prison in Raleigh.
Virus
hits
schools
SUSAN R. HARRIS
An outbreak of viral gas
troenteritis kept hundreds
of children home from
school last week.
Perquimans County
Schools Public Information
Officer Brenda Lassiter
said the local school system
recorded 1,787 absences last
week, probably an all-time
high for absenteeism.
School officials hoped
that having a long weekend
— Monday was a teacher
workday — would help curb
the spread of the virus.
Middle school students
seemed to have been hit the
hardest, with 138—150 stu
dents out each day for a
total of 716 absenses. The
high school recorded 467;
Hertford Grammar, 407; and
Central, 197. The numbers
do not account for those
students who left school
sick after mid-morning.
The oubreak was
acknowledged by
Albemarle Regional Health
Services across the region.
Symptoms of the illness
include flu-like symptoms
such as headaches, muscle
soreness, vomiting, stom
ach pain and diarrhea.
They noted that children
are particularly susceptible
to the iUness.
The health department
recommended that schools
take precautions to prevent
its spread by encouraging
frequent hand washing and
good personal hygiene.
Health officials are encour
aged the janitorial staff to
santize surfaces that chil
dren come in close contact
with including desks, bath
room fixtures and class
room supplies.
must be available to go to
court to testify in speeding
cases. Perquimans has dis
trict court every week.
Although each officer is
assigned a court date, con
tinuances may mean an
officer scheduled not to be
in court must appear.
Officers are paid a mini
mum of two hours of over
time to appear in court on
their days off.
Officers in Hertford
must work traffic, respond
to calls and investigate
those calls. Whereas other
departments have fuU-time
investigators to relieve
patrol officers of time-con
suming investigative
duties, the Hertford unit
does not have sufficient
manpower to do so.
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 46
Low: 25
Mostly Sunny
Friday
High:50
Low: 37
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 53
Low: 43
Light Rain