After opening statements, victim’s mother takes stand in James Bradley trial

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY ) — A convicted killer is once again on trial for murder.

This morning, James Bradley walked stoically into court to stand trial for first degree murder in the death of Shannon Rippy Van Newkirk.  During opening statements, Bradley watched the jury carefully and showed no emotion as prosecutors described his story of the night Van Newkirk went missing.

Van Newkirk was last seen April 5, 2014 at a bar in downtown Wilmington.  A photo from a surveillance camera shows her walking into The Husk on S. Front St. at 3 p.m.

Van Newkirk and Bradley worked together at Mott’s Landscaping, Incorporated. According to police, Bradley claimed he picked Van Newkirk up downtown, but his story changed as to where.  Bradley told police he last saw her when she jumped out of her his car on Delaney Avenue after arguing.

While searching for Van Newkirk, authorities found human remains off Hoover Road in Hampstead. A medical examiner determined the remains belonged to another missing woman, Elisha Tucker.

Bradley is facing the death penalty for Tucker’s murder.

Bradley has been charged with murder before. According to a 1988 story in the Fayetteville Observer, Bradley killed his 8-year-old stepdaughter by beating and strangling her. He was released from jail in 2013.

Prosecutors opened the trial with details on the day Van Newkirk went missing.  Assistant District Attorney Barrett Temple says video from the Exxon on Dawson street in Wilmington shows someone matching Van Newkirk’s description in Bradley’s car that night.  Surveillance video from the Husk shows Van NewKirk in the same outift.

Prosecutors also revealed phone records showing Bradley often called Van Newkirk, but that ended April 5, the day she disappeared.

The ADA says police searched Greenfield Lake, the area near Bradley’s home, Carolina Beach Road, and River Road and didn’t find anything. But while searching that property in Hampstead, police found Tucker’s body in four trash bags.

The ADA says the trial would prove Van Newkirk died the same way.

After the defense declined to make an opening statement, the prosecution called their first witness, Van NewKirks’ mother. From her wheelchair and choking back tears, Roberta Lewis told the court she “knew something was wrong” when she didn’t hear from her daughter on her birthday. Lewis said an officer broke into Shannon’s apartment for her. Her purse was there, her phone were not there.

When asked by the prosecution whether she thought her daughter was alive, she replied, “No. Not after this.”

The next person to take the stand was Dawn Hubbard, Van NewKirk’s friend.  She described meeting Van NewKirk April 5th at the Husk and that Van NewKirk was in good spirits.  She too told prosecutors she thought Van NewKirk is dead.

Hubbard’s testimony is ongoing.

The trial is expected to take at least a week.