Man seeks overturn of Wilmington murder conviction after witness recants
WILMINGTON, NC (StarNews) — A Wilmington man convicted 27 years ago as a teenager in the killing of a pet store owner is asking that his conviction be overturned after a state’s witness recanted his testimony that he was the killer.
Johnny Small was 16 years old on April 7, 1989, when a New Hanover County jury found him guilty in the brutal execution-style slaying of Pamela Dreher, 32. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Dreher’s body was found on the evening of July 13, 1988, face down inside her Wrightsville Avenue pet store, Tropical Paradise. She died from a single gunshot wound to the head. The autopsy determined the barrel of the small-caliber handgun was pressed against her at the time of the killing. Missing from the store was $173 cash from the register, but Dreher’s purse and jewelry were left behind. She’d just opened the shop three months earlier.
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