WILMINGTON — The murder trial of James Opleton Bradley began in earnest Thursday morning at the New Hanover County Courthouse, with several key witnesses, including the victim’s mother, being called early in the proceedings.
Bradley, 54, is charged with the murder of Wilmington woman Shannon Rippy Van Newkirk, who went missing in early April 2014.
Although Van Newkirk’s body has never been found, while the search was on, the body of Elisha Tucker, another missing woman, was found in a shallow grave in Pender County on land tied to Bradley through his employer, Mott’s Landscaping. That led investigators to arrest Bradley on first degree murder charges.
As the trial began, Judge Paul L. Jones reminded the courtroom that although this has been a high profile case, this would not be handled “like the movies.”
“This trial is not for entertainment,” Jones said. “We are here to exercise a fundamental part of our democracy, to seek out truth and justice.”
Assistant District Attorney Barrett Temple, began by laying out the prosecutions case, explaining the circumstances of the investigation. Van Newkirk was last seen leaving a downtown restaurant the day before her birthday, April 5.
Temple says that after analyzing phone records, investigators were able to determine her movements after leaving downtown, showing she had traveled up Dawson Street and then on to 17th Street.
Surveillance footage from the Exxon station on 3rd and Dawson streets showed what appeared to be the Van Newkirk in a red pickup truck. Prosecutors say that truck belonged to Bradley.
Temple said investigators questioned Bradley several times. Bradley changed his story on numerous occasions, he said. First, Bradley said he had not seen Van Newkirk, then that they’d talked on the phone, and finally that he had picked her up, but she ended up exiting his vehicle after a conversation about her relationship issues had become heated.
Bradley and Van Newkirk were close work associates who often rode together to and from their landscaping job.
According to Temple, the defendant stated several times to officers over the course of the investigation that “I was the last person to see her alive, it’s my fault that she is missing.”
Bradley sat emotionless beside his defense team as the proceedings began, only moving to lock eyes with the witnesses on the stand.
Friends and family testify
As the trial unfolded, the prosecution called it’s first witness, Van Newkirk’s mother, Roberta Lewis. Lewis painted a picture of a loving daughter, one who was very close with her mother.
On the day of her disappearance, the 82-year-old Lewis came up from Southport to visit her daughter for a birthday lunch. After arriving at her Van Newkirk’s downtown apartment and calling for “half an hour,” she left her daughter’s presents at the door and proceeded to lunch without her, assuming she had “found something better to do.”
After a day of not hearing from her daughter, Lewis assumed something was wrong and contacted authorities.
“I knew it wasn’t right when she didn’t call,” Lewis said.
When asked if she believed her daughter was still alive, Lewis became emotional.
“I would love to, but no, not now, not after this,” Lewis said. “I just want bring her home.”
Several of the victim’s friends took the stand next, Dawn Hubbard, one of her “best friends,” described her as a friendly and outgoing individual.
“She had many friends downtown, she was very upbeat and outgoing,” Hubbard said. “She was very fun to be around.”
The final witness of the morning was Van Newkirk’s and Bradley’s former boss, Steve Mott.
Mott had a casual “romantic” relationship with Van Newkirk over the course of the past 10 years. Mott claims he was unaware of any relationship between her and Bradley outside of the workplace, but said Bradley was quick to temper on the job.
“Bradley had a bad temper,” Mott said. “He would sometimes fly off the handle at her and I would have to separate them.”
The victim’s mother said she was aware that Bradley had asked Van Newkirk out romantically in the past, but didn’t think she’d ever taken him up on the offer.
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 2013.
Get in touch with Reporter Cory Mannion: follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or send an email at cory@localvoicemedia.com.
