THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 25, 1995 TAG: 9504250298
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The Currituck County man who owns a Connecticut home where five young men were killed last week remained jailed under $500,000 bond Monday after a hearing in Pasquotank County District Court.
Geoffrey Kent Ferguson, 44, of Powells Point, still faced only Connecticut charges of third-degree larceny and criminal lockout in connection with an earlier dispute with his tenants. He was arrested in Currituck County Thursday on a fugitive warrant and made his first court appearance Monday.
First District Court Judge J.C. Cole refused to reduce bond for Ferguson despite court-appointed defense attorney H.P. Williams' argument that the current charges did not warrant the half-million dollars under which Ferguson is being held.
Williams objected to District Attorney Frank Parrish's statements that Connecticut authorities were building a murder case against Ferguson. Calling the current bond ``sort of excessive'' for the existing charges, Williams asked that it be lowered to between $2,500 and $5,000.
``He has no history to my knowledge . . . of flight to avoid prosecution,'' Williams said. ``At this point, what someone is suspected of is not evidence in any criminal proceeding.''
But Cole declined to reduce the bond after holding a brief discussion at the bench with Williams and Parrish. Williams, the former district attorney, was unseated by Parrish in a primary election last year.
The next hearing for Ferguson was set for May 24 in Currituck County, where bond and extradition will likely be addressed, Parrish said.
Parrish said the higher bond was warranted in the case.
``He's certainly strongly suspected, and warrants are about to be issued, I believe, for five murders,'' Parrish said after the hearing.
The three tenants and two houseguests in Ferguson's Redding, Conn., home - all men in their 20s - were found dead Tuesday night, reportedly with authorities have ruled as arson.
Ferguson had not been charged in connection with the murders by Monday afternoon, officials said. He faces no charges in North Carolina, but remains in custody of Currituck Sheriff's officials under the fugitive warrant.
Officials found a .22-caliber rifle and other evidence connected to the case at Ferguson's Powells Point home Friday.
Williams has said Ferguson will likely fight extradition. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Geoffrey Kent Ferguson may face murder charges in the deaths of five
men. A rifle, of the type used in the murders, was found in his
Powells Point home.
KEYWORDS: FUGITIVE LARCENY BOND HEARING by CNB