Judge increases bond for bread seller's statements to police

A Superior Court judge on Monday increased bond to $750,000 for a Durham bread-company owner charged in a fraud case because he allegedly gave police false information in a high-profile murder case.

Judge Donald Stephens called Paul Evan Seelig a "danger to society" for giving police bad and misleading information that implicated an innocent person in the March beating death of state school board member Kathy Taft.

Seelig, who could be arraigned on additional charges in the coming weeks, was arrested in February, on accusations that he knowingly sold bread advertised as being gluten-free – even though tests showed the food as having high levels of the substance.

He was later released from jail on a $100,000 bond.

In court Monday, prosecutors said Seelig later made statements to police regarding Taft's death that turned out to be false.

Taft, 62, of Greenville, died March 9 from a fractured skull and extensive brain damage resulting from an attack three days earlier at a Raleigh home where she had been staying.

Jason Keith Williford, 30, was arrested April 16 on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree forcible rape in the case.