WILMINGTON — The long-awaited trial of James Opleton Bradley, of Wilmington, is set to begin this week.
Bradley, 54, is charged with the murder of Shannon Rippy Van Newkirk, who went missing from a downtown restaurant in Wilmington in April of 2014.
Jury selection began Monday afternoon in Pender County. New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David announced in January that the state would be seeking the death penalty for Bradley.
Bradley was also indicted in December on first degree murder charges for the killing of Elisha Marie Tucker, who’s body was found in 2014 in a shallow grave in Pender County. Tucker was found while police searched for another missing woman tied to Bradley.
While searching for the missing Van Newkirk on property tied to landscaping work Bradley had been conducting, a body was found bound in the fetal position in a shallow grave.
Investigators initially believed the body to be that of Van Newkirk, however, an autopsy later showed that the body was that of a missing Leland woman, the then 34-year-old Tucker. Van Newkirk’s body was never found.
Bradley was already a person of interest in the murder of Tucker, however, it took until November of 2016 to definitively tie him to the crime.
Bradley is a parolee from a previous life sentence. He was previously convicted for the strangulation of his 8-year-old stepdaughter Alisa Ivy Gibson in 1988. Bradley served 25 years in prison, but was released in February of 2013.
According to officials with the New Hanover County District Attorneys office, once juror selection process is complete, the jury will be bused to the New Hanover County Court House in Wilmington for the Superior Court trial.
The trial is expected to begin Wednesday or Thursday of this week run for the next three weeks.
This story has been corrected to state the correct victim for the current trial.
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