Cynthia Moreland missing in Raleigh, NC(BODY FOUND)

[Whodunit?]

Looks like tehy have the suspect, but can't locate her yet.  Of course, he was a registered sex offender.  UGH.

[Whodunit?]

Sorry, I meant to include a link.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=4499274

[Red]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=4499274

His criminal record shows he was convicted of common-law robbery and a second-degree sexual offense in 1994. Police records show that Chance, then 16 and a high school student, was one of three people who physically and sexually assaulted a 32-year-old man in Fuquay-Varina.

He served four years in prison, then was convicted twice, in 2000 and 2001, of failing to register as a sexual offender and served an additional 22 months in prison.

Most recently, Chance spent five months behind bars for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, the records showed.

What an upstanding citizen, what a shock that he escalated his crimes to murder. I guess we are supposed to be happy that at least he decided to register this time as a sex offender.

Why these people are allowed to live among us is a mystery. Its only a matter of time before exposing, touching and raping turns to murder.

[Whodunit?]

There should be a much more severe penalty for failing to register.  Seems he has no respect for others or the law.

[Whodunit?]

Sadly, I think Cynthia has been found dead.  I hope this guy gets what he has coming to him.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/481811.html

[klaasend]

Sadly, I think Cynthia has been found dead.  I hope this guy gets what he has coming to him.

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/481811.html

Yes, it is confirmed:

http://www.newsobserver.com/100/story/481842.html

Body found Friday was Cynthia Moreland
 
Raleigh police said today that a body found in Harnett County on Friday belonged to Cynthia Moreland, the Wendell resident who had been missing since she failed to show up for work in downtown Raleigh on August 22.
The N.C. chief medical examiner confirmed the identity of Moreland, 48, whose body was found next to an abandoned house just outside Coats by a couple looking for firewood. Police have not said how she died.

Moreland, an employee of Progress Energy, was last seen in a city-owned parking deck across the street from her office. Police have charged Antonio Davon Chance, 29, a convicted sex offender from Garner, with kidnapping Moreland and using her debit card to buy toiletries. Police have not filed any additional charges against him.

[nonesuche]

Chance was charged with murder

http://www.newsobserver.com/1330/story/483091.html

 For several years employees could request an escort to their vehicle and the parking garages at night but I am unsure if you could in the morning? It may have been only at night.

[Nut44x4]

Attorney wants hearing on murder suspect's mental ability
 

Posted: May. 14, 2008

Raleigh, N.C. — An attorney for a man charged in the kidnapping and death of a Wendell woman on Wednesday asked a court to rule that his client is mentally +++++++ and ineligible for the death penalty.

Raleigh defense attorney Karl Knudsen says his motion for a discretionary pre-trial hearing has nothing to do with whether Antonio Davon Chance is innocent or guilty in the 2006 death of Cynthia Moreland. It has to do, he said, with whether the case should be tried as a capital prosecution.

State law prohibits executing mentally +++++++ people, those with an IQ below 70 and who had issues of adaptive functioning prior to age 18, if they are convicted of first-degree murder.

Chance, 30, is charged with first-degree murder in Moreland's death. Police said she was abducted from a parking garage beneath Progress Energy's headquarters in downtown Raleigh on Aug. 22, 2006.

Authorities found her body behind an abandoned barn in Harnett County 11 days later.

"A mentally +++++++ person can function at a certain level and can either do good things or can do bad things. It's just kind of a separation from that," Knudsen said. "And we have decided, both as a state and as a country, that it's unconstitutional and unlawful to execute somebody who's mentally +++++++."

The 72-page court document contains an affidavit from clinical psychologist Dr. Ginger Calloway, who assessed Chance's mental capacity and background on two occasions.

Calloway writes that Chance "appears brighter, intellectually, than he is" and "was immature in his thinking, understanding and reasoning about various matters."

According to her affidavit, Chance scored a full-scale IQ of 67 in September 2006, after his arrest in the Moreland case, and a 66 on a test in November 2007.

He also "had extreme difficulty with functioning independently in academics and in social skills" and "functioned … with the help of others and not independently," having had several jobs. The longest he was able to hold one was six months.

In the motion, Knudsen says that determining whether Chance is mentally +++++++ before trial will "save considerable time, money and resources" and would "serve to narrow the issues in the case."

If the Wake County district attorney's office wants a hearing rather than agreeing Chance is +++++++, the motion will go before a judge. That would be a first in Wake County.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Howard Cummings said there's been no decision yet and that prosecutors are awaiting information from their own experts on the issue.

"If I had to make the decision today, I'd say 'no,'" Cummings said.

District Attorney Colon Willoughby says that in most cases, he would prefer a jury to consider evidence during a trial instead of having a judge making the decision beforehand.

"That's the way our system is set up and that's the way it should work," he said.

Chance's trial was slated to begin in February. Attorneys announced their intention to file the motion in January, delaying the trial. A new date has not been set.

"It's, certainly, the latest technique in trying to avoid the death penalty of people who have lived independent lives for years and years," Willoughby said. "And now, all of a sudden, they say, 'I'm +++++++,' when you're getting ready to try them for murder."

Moreland's widower, Walter Moreland, said Wednesday, he and his daughter are upset by the trial's delay and that they want it to be over.

He said he believes too much planning was involved in the crime for Chance to be mentally +++++++, despite any supporting evidence from psychologists.

"I don't think he's mentally +++++++," Moreland said, "even if they prove it."
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2881303/