Man pleads guilty to 2015 New Hanover Co. murder

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Castle Hayne man will spend the next three decades in prison after admitting he killed a man last year.

The District Attorney’s Office says Adam Allen Morton, 24, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder and armed robbery of William “Will” Elliot, 37.

A judge sentenced Morton to 30-38 years in prison.

On Feb. 28, 2015, Wilmington Police responded to a domestic disturbance at a Market Street motel. Jamie Cooper said Morton had assaulted her before running off. During the investigation, dispatch got a call from Cooper’s brother reporting that she told him someone had been robbed and stabbed at her home on Gale Road. When New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies got to the home, the found Elliot dead from stab wounds.

According to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office:

During the investigation, detectives learned that on Friday, February 27, 2015, Cooper, Morton and Elliot drove together to buy crack. Cooper and Morton later went again to purchase more crack cocaine. All three used the crack cocaine over the course of the night at her home at 130 Gale Road. Cooper showered and went to bed, leaving Morton and Elliot watching television. Cooper woke up around 8 a.m., and witnessed Morton stabbing Elliot. Cooper went back to her bedroom and Morton came to the bedroom with the victim’s keys and money and said he could now pay rent, he laid $740 laying on the bed.

Morton and Cooper left the home Morton drove Mr. Elliot’s truck and Cooper followed in her own. Their plan was to ditch Elliot’s truck. Morton backed the truck into a parking spot at the boat ramp by the Isabella Holmes Bridge and took the tag off of it, they went to buy more crack. Detectives located the abandoned vehicle in the days following the discovery of Elliot’s body.

Drug dealers were interviewed by vice and narcotics detectives and both admitted to knowing both Cooper and Morton, and they both admitted to selling Cooper and Morton crack cocaine. They gave consent to detectives to search the residence and detectives located and seized crack cocaine. Both dealers were charged with Possession with Intent to Sell and Deliver Cocaine.

Detectives located and seized a duffle bag dropped by the defendant as he fled the Quality Inn when officers were dispatched earlier in the evening. Detectives located and preserved a shoe impression on the top of a vehicle Morton climbed on in order to jump a fence next to the Quality Inn. A shoe impression in dried blood left behind at the crime scene on Gale Road was cut out of the
kitchen floor linoleum and seized by crime scene investigators. These two shoe impressions appear to be consistent. Crime scene professionals located and seized at the crime scene on Gale Road numerous items including four kitchen steak-type knives with dried blood, one that was broken at the handle as if it had been used with force great enough to break the resin handle.

During this time, another team of law enforcement officers were searching for Adam Morton. They tracked him to several locations, but were unsuccessful in locating him. Morton’s family agreed to assist, they set up a meeting with Morton in the parking lot of the Burger King in the 1900 block of 17th Street. Morton did appear, but fled when he observed law enforcement. A perimeter was secured, a K-9 officer with Wilmington Police Department was deployed. Adam Morton was taken into custody after a foot pursuit with a K-9 officer. He was treated for minor bite wounds and then transferred to the New Hanover County Jail on March 1, 2015.

Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan remarked, “The coordinated law enforcement effort in this case led to the apprehension of a violent man. Crime driven by drug activity is not tolerated in our community and we make an effort to send strong messages in these cases.”

Cooper is charged with Accessory After the Fact. Her next court date is October 10.