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10:51 a.m. • 2-12-12

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Man faces murder charge after wife's attacker dies


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Stanton Moretti Jr.
Stanton Moretti Jr.

A Raeford man was charged with murder Tuesday, four days after he ran over a man suspected of trying to rob his wife at knifepoint outside a Fayetteville pizzeria.

Stanton Moretti Jr., 41, of 119 Raymond St., has been charged with first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was released Monday on a $25,000 bond on the assault charge, and police said he would surrender Wednesday morning on the murder charge.

Moretti's wife, Anna Moretti, was outside Primo Pizza on Yadkin Road Friday night when Aaron McLeod approached her and tried to rob and stab her, police said. Anna Moretti called out to her husband, who came outside and fired two warning shots from his handgun, police said.

McLeod fled on foot down Horseshoe Road, and Stanton Moretti got into his GMC Yukon, caught up to McLeod and struck him several times with his vehicle, police said.

Investigators declined to say whether a knife was found near McLeod's body or between the restaurant and where he was run over.

McLeod, 28, of 412 Horseshoe Road, died Monday at UNC Hospitals.

Stanton Moretti couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, and Anna Moretti declined to comment.

McLeod's father, Gilbert McLeod, said he wants to see Stanton Moretti brought to justice.

"I wouldn't even run over a dog that way," McLeod said. "I would want to see justice done, and him (Moretti) to get the full extent of that the law can get to him, because you just don't do this. You don't take the law into your own hand."

McLeod said he saw his son in the hospital Monday before he died.

"I had a chance to talk with him," he said, fighting back tears. "I was able to tell him (Monday) morning that I loved him and (that) this was not his fault."

Moretti also was arrested in September on charges of assaulting a female and misdemeanor child abuse. Several misdemeanor charges against McLeod, including larceny and shoplifting, had been dismissed, according to a criminal records check.

RELATED TOPICS: Raeford, Fayetteville

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For both the perp and the man behind the wheel of the SUV, "Thou Shall Not Steal" and "Thou Shall Not Kill"

See Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven....A time to kill, and a time to heal....

Tell our troops in Iraq and Afganistan that there is not a time to kill. Tell the WW-II or Korean, Vietnam or Desert Storm that there is not a time to kill. Tell Jeff Dahmer's victims kin and friends that there is not a time to kill. Oh, there is a time to kill.

I did not use the word "if" or whatever. The man intentionally rolled his car over the man several times. This caused the man to lose his life. The police now call it a homicide. The man has now been charged with murder. Both of these men were wrong on all accounts. One lost his life and the other is charged with his murder. Once something happens, many times you cannot go back and change it to suit your taste.

Ok-so the dead man had a plan to harm this woman. Do you think the man who ran him over woke up that morning and said, "you know what? I think I'll run someone over with my car." The man with the plan died and the one without one was put into a position of defending the life of his wife or watching it happen and making the 6 o'clock news as another murder robbery. Too bad it happened but it did.

Unless Mr. Moretti's defense plans to bring in an EXPERT witness to court; the words "if" or "would have" or "could have" will provide very little support. I realize we can all point out different scenarios with “what ifs” and “could haves”… but as others have pointed out, when we create endless scenarios with the word IF (rather than the facts) in order to form an opinion; usually those opinions are discarded. Hopefully ALL the facts will be revealed if / when this case is brought to trial.

He is guilty. He ran over the man several times. He took the law into his own hand and should never have done that. He should now be charged for murder in the second degree.

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