GUILTY NC - William “Andy” Banks, 39, Raleigh, met someone about selling his car, 12 Sept 2020 *ARREST*

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My condolences to Andy's loved ones.

Rant: Nothing is ever worth taking an innocent person's life. But this doesnt even make any sense,you killed a man and within a few days the car you murdered him for and you are found. Was it worth it? Did he think having a burner phone meant he was being slick..I hope he rots. I bet it was premeditation too.
 
ogls said:
Prayers for Andy and his family. This is so senseless, I can't even wrap my head around this, over a car? a car? My God my heart hurts!!

Forget life in prison, death penalty is needed, imo have to start removing these types of criminals not giving them 3 hots n a cot. JMHO

Monkeytown, please let the family know, there are people who care. If I can help/donate, please let me know where.
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Ita!

Whether the defendant is ever executed or not is irrelevant to juries who sit on DP cases. They are there to decide the appropriate punishment should the defendant be found guilty in the trial phase.

Juries hand down the punishment allowable in each state based on the evidence the defendant has committed against the innocent victim or victims.

Whether the DA seeks the DP remains to be seen, but there is no doubt about it.. he will meet the necessary legal requirements to support seeking death should they so choose. The prosecutor is only required to prove one aggravating factor elevating it to a DP qualified case. Here the DA has more than one.

Example: Even though the governor of CA has said no one will be put to death during his term in office the DP option remains because it was voted in by the majority of CA voters to have the DP as an option.

Just recently the jurors in the Charles Merritt case unanimously voted to sentence him to death in the murders of the McStay family.

I believe the DA will choose to make JMs case a DP one. They must send a strong message that those who does
what JM has done deserves the harshest punishment allowed for no other punishment truly fits the heinous crimes JM did against Andy.

Jmho
 
This story in today's Raleigh News & Observer is about a gathering of the Banks family and hundreds of Andy's friends for a candlelight vigil and memorial service Friday evening.
Fighting grief with laughter, friends toast Raleigh’s Andy Banks, found dead in Va.
By Josh Shaffer
September 19, 2020 10:13 AM

More than 200 mourners poured into the parking lot of Raleigh’s closed K&W restaurant Friday night, all of them holding candles to remember their slain friend Andy Banks, hugging each other around a vase full of sunflowers.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the crowd, speechless with grief, standing on the spot where Banks was last seen before vanishing last Saturday, when a voice cried out, “Somebody say something funny!”

So for the next two hours, the speakers took turns recalling the 39-year-old Banks, who lived with the joy of an 8-year-old at a birthday party.

[snip]

Throughout the search for Banks, friends urged people not to attack the suspect, his family or his friends on social media. The accused has a felony record in Virginia and was also charged with having a firearm forbidden by that conviction.

“I’m extremely sad about Andy’s death,” Arthurs wrote, “and when I watched his suspected killer appear in front of a judge, I was also sad about a desperate life that drove someone to take another life just for a used car.”

[More at link, but may be paywall.]
 
anneg said:
This story in today's Raleigh News & Observer is about a gathering of the Banks family and hundreds of Andy's friends for a candlelight vigil and memorial service Friday evening.
Fighting grief with laughter, friends toast Raleigh’s Andy Banks, found dead in Va.
By Josh Shaffer
September 19, 2020 10:13 AM

More than 200 mourners poured into the parking lot of Raleigh’s closed K&W restaurant Friday night, all of them holding candles to remember their slain friend Andy Banks, hugging each other around a vase full of sunflowers.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the crowd, speechless with grief, standing on the spot where Banks was last seen before vanishing last Saturday, when a voice cried out, “Somebody say something funny!”

So for the next two hours, the speakers took turns recalling the 39-year-old Banks, who lived with the joy of an 8-year-old at a birthday party.

[snip]

Throughout the search for Banks, friends urged people not to attack the suspect, his family or his friends on social media. The accused has a felony record in Virginia and was also charged with having a firearm forbidden by that conviction.

“I’m extremely sad about Andy’s death,” Arthurs wrote, “and when I watched his suspected killer appear in front of a judge, I was also sad about a desperate life that drove someone to take another life just for a used car.”

[More at link, but may be paywall.]
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From this beautiful gathering:

“He was the sort of man who always knew where to find the best beer specials on a Sunday afternoon, how to buy a truck for cheap, fix it up and sell it for a better one, how to live the good life on Chase Rewards points.

He once spent a summer in Charleston but didn’t have a bed for his room, but he noticed that a mattress store offered a 90-day money-back guarantee. So he made sleeping arrangements.

Banks would help you move to your new home when he barely knew you. If you were tired of your job and wanted a new life, he would urge you to quit and move in with him. He would babysit your kids, and before you got back, he would have taken them to Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s.

He drove a red 1970s Cadillac El Dorado — painted the color of his beloved N.C. State University Wolfpack — and would loan it to for your wedding pictures.

Above all, his crowd of friends emphasized, he wouldn’t want anyone to lose faith and think the world a lousy place. Even after his death.”
 
Respectfully snipped for emphasis:

JudgeJoe said:
From this beautiful gathering:


Above all, his crowd of friends emphasized, he wouldn’t want anyone to lose faith and think the world a lousy place. Even after his death.”
Click to expand...

Well, reading that did me in. Seeing so many of you here at WS sharing what I also think, about the consequences of this crime, all for a car, and then I read his friends’ thoughts. I let myself fall into that pit of despair all too often, thinking most humans are just fundamentally selfish and incredibly mean spirited, but hearing a soul like Andy’s would advise us to hold onto some hope....that’s beyond an inspiring thought and a kick in the pants altogether. Andy, may your rest be as restorative and joy inducing as your spirit on earth appeared to be for others. You’ve left a mark.
 
Niner said:
per article:

District Judge Ned Mangum ordered that Merritt be held without bond and set his next court date for Oct. 7.

Same as his other charges.
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Thanks @Niner
I guess I just always check your court updates so I did not mean to make more work for you. ( You are my go-to for court dates :) )
I will also try to keep on top of it, if I can access it, just depends on how wonky my internet wants to be on some days.
 
anneg said:
This story in today's Raleigh News & Observer is about a gathering of the Banks family and hundreds of Andy's friends for a candlelight vigil and memorial service Friday evening.
Fighting grief with laughter, friends toast Raleigh’s Andy Banks, found dead in Va.
By Josh Shaffer
September 19, 2020 10:13 AM

More than 200 mourners poured into the parking lot of Raleigh’s closed K&W restaurant Friday night, all of them holding candles to remember their slain friend Andy Banks, hugging each other around a vase full of sunflowers.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the crowd, speechless with grief, standing on the spot where Banks was last seen before vanishing last Saturday, when a voice cried out, “Somebody say something funny!”

So for the next two hours, the speakers took turns recalling the 39-year-old Banks, who lived with the joy of an 8-year-old at a birthday party.

[snip]

Throughout the search for Banks, friends urged people not to attack the suspect, his family or his friends on social media. The accused has a felony record in Virginia and was also charged with having a firearm forbidden by that conviction.

“I’m extremely sad about Andy’s death,” Arthurs wrote, “and when I watched his suspected killer appear in front of a judge, I was also sad about a desperate life that drove someone to take another life just for a used car.”

[More at link, but may be paywall.]
Click to expand...
Oh My...
What a wonderful outcome for Andy !!
It brought me to tears and breaks my heart though for his friends and family and all that knew him.
I am glad they all shared stories with each other of his wonderful life.
He definitely left a huge impact with those that knew and loved him.
Just goes to show how classy he was by the friends he has--his friends asked that nobody attack his murderer or his family online.
CLASS ACT !!
 
I didn’t know Andy, but this case has brought me to tears many times. I know many people feel the same. If there’s one lesson we can all learn, it’s that we should all live each day like Andy did. I’m sure heavens having one hell of a party!
 
Greenra219 said:
I didn’t know Andy, but this case has brought me to tears many times. I know many people feel the same. If there’s one lesson we can all learn, it’s that we should all live each day like Andy did. I’m sure heavens having one hell of a party!
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WELCOME to WS
and Great post-- I agree..I have been brought to tears and I did not know him either.
But your wise words of living like Andy lived instills in my heart !!!
 
Madeleine74 said:
thanks @borndem!

The M.E. will certainly try to determine T.O.D., but after several days, that can be difficult to determine to an exact hour (IMO).

I'm not sure if that actually matters since the crime started in Raleigh and it appears to be one continuous crime that terminated in VA. A.B. lived in Wake County, he was selling the RR in Raleigh, and the perp(s) came to Raleigh to transact, the perp(s) kidnapped A.B. and committed the larceny and other crimes starting in Raleigh. Based on that I'll be surprised if jurisdiction is given to Virginia. IMO. But then again, never say never.
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I agree. North Carolina will almost certainly retain jurisdiction over the case.
 
riolove77 said:
I agree. North Carolina will almost certainly retain jurisdiction over the case.
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The arrest warrant for JM stated that the murder took place in Wake County, and the body was dumped in Virginia. I have wondered if that is known for certain, or just assumed, and if so, how. It is possible, I suppose, that there was a witness or witnesses to the murder, if a shooting took place at the site of the original meeting, or that the murder, or deceased victim may have caught on video. I think it is more likely that when processing the vehicle, forensic evidence showed that a dead body had been present in the car, and may have been able to tell that a dead body had been in the vehicle for some time. Decomposition begins almost immediately after death, and certain chemicals may have been present in the car that allowed investigators to arrive at that conclusion. Regardless, I also believe that North Carolina will retain jurisdiction as well. JMO
 
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SteveP said:
The arrest warrant for JM stated that the murder took place in Wake County, and the body was dumped in Virginia.
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Arrest warrants and the details therein are based on probable cause.

We know the crime started in Wake County, and we know the body was dumped in Virginia, the probability is that A.B. was murdered before they got to Virginia. NC intends to try the case, and by all accounts they would have legal jurisdiction. IMO
 
SteveP said:
The arrest warrant for JM stated that the murder took place in Wake County, and the body was dumped in Virginia. I have wondered if that is known for certain, or just assumed, and if so, how. It is possible, I suppose, that there was a witness or witnesses to the murder, if a shooting took place at the site of the original meeting, or that the murder, or deceased victim may have caught on video. I think it is more likely that when processing the vehicle, forensic evidence showed that a dead body had been present in the car, and may have been able to tell that a dead body had been in the vehicle for some time. Decomposition begins almost immediately after death, and certain chemicals may have been present in the car that allowed investigators to arrive at that conclusion. Regardless, I also believe that North Carolina will retain jurisdiction as well. JMO
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Steve, can you point me to the arrest warrant please? I haven’t seen it yet. TY.
 
Simply Southern said:
Body found in Danville positively identified as missing North Carolina man

The body of missing man Anthony Banks Jr. has been positively identified, according to the Raleigh Police Department.
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SBM
Some statements from above MSM

“We know this arrest will not ease the pain the family and friends of Mr. Banks are experiencing with the loss of their loved one,” Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said. “We do, however, hope that they will gain some measure of comfort with this arrest.”

“Mr. Banks did everything right,” RPD Homicide Captain Andy Murr said. “He arranged to meet in a public place during daylight hours. The suspect in this case had ulterior motives that led to the tragic death of Mr. Banks.”

The Raleigh Police Department said that this investigation is still active.

More @ link
 
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