Man gets life sentence in bar owner's death

Steele

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. One said, "Praise the Lord."

A Rowan County Superior Court jury deliberated about 90 minutes Wednesday before returning a series of guilty verdicts.

In addition to 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 who Wills had befriended and given transportation, food and diapers for her children. She invited him to her home for a private dance on Aug. 17, 2006.

The next day, Wills' 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 discovered 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 and testified against Steele.

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

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 91/2 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 jurors believed 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, in which both were involved.

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 left unlocked and with money inside.

She testified that on the day Wills was killed, she took five pills of the anti-anxiety drug Klonopin, drank two bottles of Cisco — a cheap wine known as "liquid crack" for its 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, he contended in statements to investigators 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 Wills' 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 would serve 20 to 23 years in prison as part of a plea bargain. During his closing argument, he told jurors that Clontz is guilty of first-degree murder but that he had to make the plea deal to get her testimony.

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

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