Steele's sentence: Life plus

Steele

Clontz

By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

A 27- year-old Biscoe man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the August 2006 beating death of Jeffrey Allen Wills, the owner of a Kannapolis bar.

Nicholas "Nick" Jermaine Steele showed no emotion, but members of Wills' family sobbed, with one saying, "Praise the Lord."

The Rowan County Superior Court jury deliberated about 90 minutes before returning the series of guilty verdicts.

In addition to being guilty of first-degree murder, the jury found Steele guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon, felony larceny and felonious possession of stolen property.

Wills was killed in a house on Meriah Street in Landis, a home rented to Mandy Clontz, an exotic dancer/stripper who Wills had befriended, helping with transportation, food and diapers for her and her children. She invited him to her home for a private dance on Aug. 17, 2006.

The next day his mother reported him missing. His 2005 Ford Explorer was found in a creek in Moore County on Aug. 19, 2006.

Two weeks later, his body was found stuffed under a house in Montgomery County.

Initially, Clontz and Steele were charged with first-degree murder. Clontz was scheduled for trial last year, but reached a deal with prosecutors.

The jury began deliberations late Tuesday afternoon and had advised Presiding Superior Court Judge Stuart Albright that they expected to have a verdict within 15 minutes. Twenty minutes later, Judge Albright sent them home for the night. The jury of six men and six women reached agreement shortly after 11 a.m. today.

District Attorney Bill Kenerly asked the judge for additional time — a sentence of life plus — for the other felony counts. Albright sentenced Steele to a minimum of 9.5 years and maximum of 12 years on the robbery and possession charges. Those sentences are on top of the life without parole sentence.

During final arguments, Kenerly argued that under North Carolina law, Steele was guilty of first-degree murder, even if they believed that Mandy Clontz actually swung the hammer, delivering four blows to Wills in the bedroom of her Meriah Street house in Landis on Aug. 17.

Kenerly said it was part of a continuous action that included the robbery of Wills, which both were involved in.

Clontz, 27, testified against Steele, whom she had known for two days. She testified Steele killed Wills after he was unable to get into Wills' SUV which he normally kept money in and left unlocked.

She testified that on the day Wills was killed, she took five Klonopin, an anti-anxiety drug, drank two Ciscos, a cheap wine known as "liquid crack" with a high alcohol content and sipped a beer before starting the private dance. She said Wills grabbed at her and attempted to have sex with her. At that point, she pushed him away and Steele came into the bedroom with a hammer and hit him repeatedly.

Although Steele didn't take the stand, his statements to investigators contended that Clontz struck Wills with the hammer when he tried to rape her.

A medical examiner testified the force of the hammer blows punched through the skull.

Clontz and Travis Chriscoe of Seagrove, who testified he helped dispose of Wills' body under a house in Moore County, face sentencing Feb. 11.

Kenerly previously announced Clontz will get 20 to 23 years in prison as part of a plea bargain arrangement. During his closing argument, he told jurors that Clontz is guilty of first-degree murder but he had to made the plea deal to get her testimony.

Harvey Steele of Biscoe, the defendant's father, made the 90-minute drive daily to Salisbury, sitting near the back of the courtroom.

Steele said the trial was unfair, saying race was the main reason his son was tried and found guilty for first-degree murder. He pointed out the other two defendants, both white, are getting plea bargains.