Money, Marital Problems Seen As Possible Motives In Wake Teacher's Death

Myron Britt was denied bond during his first appearance in a Lumberton courtroom Friday.

A day earlier, he was arrested at his Cary home by Lumberton police and the SBI for the Aug. 23 shooting death of his 49-year-old wife, Nancy, at her sister's Lumberton home.

Investigators believe Myron Britt killed his wife for one of two reasons.

Investigators said Myron Britt was having financial problems with his business. They said Nancy Britt had four life insurance policies totaling more than $800,000.

And, after 27 years of marriage, the couple was apparently having marital problems. Investigators found separation papers inside the couple's home.

Police have not recovered the .25 caliber gun used in the shooting but said they were able to link Myron Britt to his wife's murder, anyway.

"We know the weapon that we believe was used to kill Mrs. Britt," District Attorney Johnson Britt said. "We know that it was in Mr. Britt's possession by his own admission at a point prior to her death."

Along with circumstancial evidence, investigators said they were able to match the bullet in Nancy Britt's body with a bullet accidentally fired into a wall at Myron Britt's parents' home in Lumberton two years ago.

According to a search warrant, detectives also recovered an unspent .25 caliber round at the Britts' Cary home. Fingerprints found at the crime scene are still being analyzed, according to investigators.

The district attorney said it is likely that he will seek the death penalty.

Nancy Britt was killed in the home of Judy Ivey, her older sister. Ivey said her sister and Myron Britt played kickball as children and were inseparable ever since.

"It's like a dream," she said. "I just can't understand it. It's hard to know it's him."

Rose Marie Byrd, Myron Britt's cousin, said she does not doubt the police work but never would have thought the couple's relationship would end the way it did.

"I can't comprehend it," she said. "I can't visualize him with a gun in his hand, much less pulling the trigger."

In 2002, Nancy Britt was honored as Wake County's Academically Gifted Teacher of the Year. She had taught at Washington Elementary for 10 years and had just started a new assignment at Enloe High School in Raleigh.

The couple has two children.