Local News
Change-of-venue request denied in Bassett murder trial
Prosecutors had asked that Tiffany Ann Bassett's murder trial for the July 2006 shooting death of Donald "Keith" West be moved out of Cumberland County because of the pre-trial publicity surrounding the case.
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Superior Court judge denied a request Wednesday to move the trial of a Johnston County woman charged with killing her boyfriend.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Holcombe, who is prosecuting Tiffany Ann Bassett's murder trial, asked the trial be moved out of Cumberland County because of the pre-trial publicity surrounding the case.
Bassett is accused of shooting Donald "Keith" West in July 2006.
The case had already been moved from Smithfield to Fayetteville, one of several delays in the case going to trial.
It was supposed to start in March, but a judge continued it until April 21 because prosecutors turned over a discovery file five days before the case went to court.
Last month, it was delayed again when the presiding judge recused himself for undisclosed reasons.
A new trial date is been set for June 30.
West, a former Smithfield police officer and owner of a private police security operation, was found dead in his bedroom July 18, 2006.
Bassett and West's home was under foreclosure and was scheduled to be sold on the day West's body was found inside it.
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