A day later, a captain with the campus police called back to say that the housing office had a card bearing Chris's name and address written in his own hand. Bonnie has trouble de Lieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. When Peggy had talked with Bonnie the day before, Bonnie told her that the police were completely off-base in their investigation because they were focusing on her family, particularly on Chris. This time, Upchurch would enter the house with Pritchard's key, stage a break-in and attack the Von Steins in bed with the knife and a baseball bat. He has one brother, Emory, and two Mussolini responded to it all with an uncharacteristic meekness. Upchurch III (born August 17, Bonnie has trouble de Read allLieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. Lack of access to the Von Steins didn't stop Bledsoe from doing extensive research, although he has difficulty sifting out minor details. They were doing poorly in school. Upchurch did not testify at his trial but has insisted he is the innocent victim of a frame-up by Henderson and Pritchard. The two ``daydreamed' about inheriting enough money to share a ``big house in North Raleigh with a great stereo.'. ", Growing up in Goldsboro, Greensboro Day senior Jaydon Young averaged 25.9 points per game as a freshman at Wayne Christian. need your help for this. Chief Crone was pleased when Taylor told him about this. When read more, On July 25, 1941, the American automaker Henry Ford sits down at his desk in Dearborn, Michigan and writes a letter to the Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Pritchard says he hired Upchurch and Henderson to kill his family so he could hasten a $2 million inheritance. Henderson is robot-like and flat in McGinniss' book, but colorful and fully-drawn here. You have permission to edit this article. Upchurch said Pritchard and Henderson 'loaded the scales of justice.'. Watts sentenced Upchurch to die April 6, 1990, but he gets an automatic appeal to the state Supreme Court. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Chris, both of whom were known drug users. And they shared a fascination with Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy game steeped in mind-play and mystery.The trio had been playing the game regularly during summer school - at the expense of grades - and when Pritchard and Henderson stopped by his apartment in early July, Henderson says, the talk was about all sorts of strategies in make-believe - at least initially. Crone noted that players even got extra points for multiple hits, and Lieth had been hit and stabbed many times. Enlisting the help of friends James Bartlett Upchurch They face life imprisonment plus 20 years, instead of death. While pictures can be gratuitous in true-crime books, this section helps bring the players and settings in this complicated story into fuller focus. Fear and ignorance breed the sort of mindless propaganda that inspire garbage like this film. Reportedly, Chris was bitter toward his stepfather for not The first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history occurs when four people are thrown off a vacant car on the Granite Railway near Quincy, Massachusetts. Upchurch, she told him, was one of her biggest headaches, still getting into trouble, never showing up for appointments. books, each of which was adapted into a TV movie. Taylor thought the chief's theory of the murder as a Dungeons and Dragons game acted out was interesting and should be pursued, but he didn't share his enthusiasm. While both had good grades, their course work was far below their abilities, reflecting a tendency in both to slide by with as little effort as possible, Slayton said. need your help for this. Upchurch, 21, is facing the death penalty this week after being found guilty of bludgeoning and stabbing to death Pritchard's stepfather, Leith Peter Von Stein, a wealthy textile executive, and nearly killing Pritchard's mother, Bonnie Lou Bates Von Stein. Jerry Bledsoe. Thank you very much in advance. with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or seriously After turning Henderson, who accompanied Upchurch to the Von Stein home, into a state witness, prosecutors persuaded Chris to plead guilty to aiding and abetting the murder. woods around the time of the murder. Guilford school board to GOP: We want someone else. Pritchard was paroled on June 2, 2007. Upchurch told Watts that he did not want to be kept alive by force feeding. The Menendez brothers might be the most famous on our list. Out came a homemade map of Washington, N.C., and the Lawson Road house where Pritchard's stepfather, mother and younger sister lived. plans and enthusiasm Until two months ago, she testified, the thought that her own child might have been involved in her near-death was unthinkable. Sentencing dates have not been scheduled. Guilford school board to GOP: We want someone else. caught a lucky break when a hog farmer happened to spot a fire in the When pressured, some of Chris' Reviewed By Ken Berg Of The Sentinel Staff. Bonnie has trouble dealing with the fact that her own son, Christopher Pritchard, along with two friends consipired to have her and her husband killed. Upchurch was found guilty of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary, larceny and burglary as part of a conspiracy to kill Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Lou Bates Von Stein, to gain part of Von Stein's $2 million estate. He was sentenced to life in North He went to the detective division, got all the reports on the case, and began poring through them. ``I intend to take my life by fasting,' Upchurch told Pasquotank County Superior Court Judge Thomas Watts after the jury announced its sentence at 3:55 p.m.The 21-year-old Upchurch, who is from Caswell County, said no one besides himself had the right to take his life. The 1991 book Cruel into a state witness, prosecutors persuaded Chris to plead guilty to His co-conspirators, Chris Pritchard and Gerald Neal Henderson, were both convicted of murder in the second degree (aiding and abetting) and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or seriously injure.Henderson began parole on December 11, 2000. lieutenant was completed on February 27, 2005, and he is a free manitobaPritchard was paroled on June 2, 2007.James Bartlett Upchurch III was born and raised in Caswell County, North Carolina. Taylor took the card back to Capt. It was speculated at trial that the von Stein's were attacked so that Bonnie's son, Christopher Wayne Pritchard, could inherit their estate valued at almost 2 million dollars. that Leith had inherited over a million dollars shortly before he was Henderson would chauffeur Upchurch to Washington from N.C. State in Pritchard's restored 1965 Mustang - a gift from his stepfather - and Pritchard would stay on campus all night in order to establish an alibi. The detective didn't know Upchurch well, but he knew that his father had been an official with the county social services department, that his uncle was a ``hippie' who had been busted for growing marijuana. The sensational case and trial are the subject of two the attempted murder of his mother Bonnie Von Stein and the murder of The beginners' adventure described in the book was practically an outline for the Von Stein murder, the players being sent to a castle to kill the overlord and obtain his treasure, which they later would divide. A jury decision on Upchurch's fate is expected this week. He immersed himself in the three fat casebooks of reports that already had been filed, and when he emerged, he, like every other officer who had become familiar with the case, felt that Chris Pritchard had to have had something to do with the murder. The men raced back to Raleigh, Henderson said, stopping three times: to burn the map of the house and other evidence, to get rid of Upchurch's clothing and to wash the car. In the debris of a small roadside fire, they had found a hand-drawn map marking the location of the Von Stein house and a large hunting knife, both badly charred.Hope and Young had also administered lie-detector tests to Bonnie Von Stein and her daughter, Angela Pritchard, asking if either had any involvement in From BLOOD GAMES by Jerry Bledsoe. He told her he'd had a rough morning and hadn't had time for a shower. A Division of NBCUniversal. Neal Henderson, a brilliant young man with a dull social life, felt lucky that James Upchurch and Christopher Pritchard had befriended him. The murder, we sense, was just another game to them. Taylor handed him the subpoena. Carolina on January 31, 1990, and paroled on June 2, 2007. Bonnie's son, Chris Pritchard, had refused to take the test. When the cheerleading coach broke the news to Katrina Kohel that she was the only one left on the cheer squad, Kohel was determined to compete anyway. A death sentence has to be unanimous. sisters, Carrie and Alexandra. The players carried weapons and supplies in a knapsack. To keep creating After turning Henderson, who accompanied Upchurch to the Von Stein home, III and Gerald Neal Henderson, Pritchard spearheaded the murder of Von James Bartlett Upchurch III (born August 17, 1968) is an American man convicted for the murder of Lieth Von Stein and the assault with intent to kill of Bonnie Von Stein on July 25th, 1988, in Washington, NC. And John Taylor had a good idea of who that might have been. Previous to Bonnie's current city of Welcome, NC, Bonnie Vonstein lived in Winston Salem NC, Washington NC and Lexington NC. ', ``But Chris laughed and said, 'No, we're serious. miniseries of the same name. ``At that time, I really didn't feel very good about myself and I needed friends,' he testified. A devotee of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Chris often After talking with Newsom, he called back the detective in Caswell County to tell him about the warrants. He'd had time now to evaluate his staff of four detectives, and he knew the one he wanted for the job. (History.com) July 25, 1988 - Police responding to an emergency call in Washington, North Carolina, find Lieth and Bonnie Von Stein stabbed and beaten in their home. As 1988 had neared a close, Washington City Manager Bruce Radford had grown increasingly impatient about the unsolved murder. The 1992 book Blood Games by Jerry Bledsoe was Police responding to an emergency call in Washington, North Carolina, find Leith and Bonnie Von Stein stabbed and beaten in their home. As pop culture's thirst for true crime stories and other "reality-based" grit continues, it seems the moment 911 has been dialed, writers - including some very talented ones - begin clicking away at the word processor. '. As the investigation dragged on into 1989, police turned their "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness.

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