RALEIGH (AP) ó A judge refused Tuesday to unseal six search warrants used to arrest two suspects in the shooting death of University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson.
Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour Jr. said in a written order that the warrants and other documents contained details that could jeopardize the case or threaten the safety of confidential informants.
Baddour considered blacking out portions of the search warrants, but said he would have to remove so much information that they would be meaningless.
He also said making the documents public could hurt the defendantsí right to a fair trial.
The Herald-Sun of Durham filed a motion to unseal the warrants two weeks ago.
Carson, 22, was found dead March 5 in Chapel Hill about a mile from campus. The Athens, Ga., native had been shot several times, including once in her right temple.
Prosecutors have filed first-degree murder charges against Laurence Lovette, 17, and Demario Atwater, 21, both of Durham. Police say tips from the public helped them find and arrest Lovette and Atwater less than two weeks after Carson was killed.
Two people helping investigators have already been threatened, though not by Lovette or Atwater, according to Baddourís order. The informants fear they would be in danger if authorities release their names or information that could reveal their identities.
Investigators initially focused on several surveillance and ATM photographs that were released publicly. Atwater was arrested a few days later as he left a home in Durham that police were watching based on a tip. Lovette surrendered the next day before dawn at another Durham home.
Lovette has also been charged with killing Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato. A native of Tatangar, India, Mahato was a doctoral student in computational mechanics who was shot in January during a robbery at his off-campus apartment.