Evidence disallowed in Wake County murder trial

Raleigh, N.C. — A judge on Monday threw out evidence seized by Wake County deputies investigating the February 2007 slaying of a Wendell woman, ruling the search warrant used in the case was faulty.

Jurors selection and opening arguments began Monday for the murder trial of Jakiem Wilson, who is charged with killing his wife. Wilson admitted responsibility for her death last month, but said the case wasn't first-degree murder.

Nneka Wilson, 24, was found stabbed to death inside her 6637 Eagles Crossing Drive home on Feb. 12, 2007. She had been dead for up to 16 hours before Jakiem Wilson called 911.

Jakiem Wilson claimed at the time to have been out of town when she was killed. He said he found her dead on the kitchen floor, along with the message, "Your (expletive) is dead. You're next," scrawled in her blood.

Superior Court Judge Henry Hight ruled Monday that Wake County deputies lacked probable cause to search the house after the stabbing last year, so none of the evidence seized in the search can be introduced during the trial.

"There were no facts included in the affidavit to the search warrant application indicating that any crime had been committed," Hight wrote in his order. "Specifically, the search warrant affidavit does not allege that the woman located on the floor was dead."

Two hatchets, a sword and a bow and arrow were among the items collected by detectives. It was unclear whether the order affected blood-stained evidence collected by crime-scene analysts with the City-County Bureau of Identification.

Also Monday, Hight denied a defense motion to suppress Jakiem Wilson's statements to investigators.

Claudette Sutton Hill, Nneka Wilson's mother, was the first witness for the prosecution to testify. She remembered her daughter as a hard-working, mature, responsible woman.

Two other men, Jamie Russell Holder, 18, of 1418 Old Buck Horn Road in Garner, and Roderick Ryan Howell, 17, of 1337 Hodge Road in Knightdale, have been charged with being accessories after the fact of murder in the case.