GUILTY NC - Valerie Hamilton, 23, Charlotte, 15 September 2010

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Lavanda Dolce said:
I think the whole situation is just tragic and that young women really need to always have friends together when they go out...and not solo.
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The friends she was with at the Tavern initially said it appeared Valerie knew Harvey, but they didn't know him and it seems Valerie stayed after they left (I'm still not clear on what time they left the Tavern). What I'm still not clear on either is how well did Valerie know Harvey, and if the implied drug use is to be believed, could that be the "connection" between the two of them? :waitasec: MOO
 
jcamille said:
I'm still having issues with the timeline....

Here's what we know...

Between 12:30-1:30 a.m. - They left Thomas Street Tavern. It's a 10 minute drive to his house.

1:30ish -2:30 a.m.? unaccounted for - His roommates said that they were at his house (doing things?) when the roommate got home and so they left. Roommate said he was going to take her to get medical attention. (we do not know what time this occurred).

Police said that 'alot of people' saw them that night and said she was very sick (alot of people where? TST? his house? her apt or Econolodge?)

Instead, they apparently went to her apt. (police said there was evidence that they had been to her apt.)

2:30 - 3 a.m.? It would take 20-30 minutes to drive from his house to her apt. She had to be coherent enough to give him directions unless he had been there previously.

At 3:12 a.m. - She calls her friend and asks her friend to come join her and her friend in her apt's hot tub. Friend says she doesn't sound drunk, drugged or sick.

They left her apt. and left the door unlocked. (If her keys were found in her car, did they go back by her car? If not, how did they get into her apt.? Perhaps they got maintenance to let them in because she didn't have her keys and that would be why she or he didn't lock the apt. door when they left or they were both too wasted to notice they didn't lock it.

I wonder if the heat from the hot tub, combined with the drugs and alcohol made her pass out or go into convulsions or seizures and there were other people at her apt. complex who saw them and said she needs immediate medical attention.

From her apt. to Econolodge is a 20 minute drive at that time of night.

Why didn't they stay at her apt.? Why go check into a cheap motel?

I think he took her from the apt. because people saw them and said that she needed immediate medical attention and he had to put her in the car to pretend that he was taking her to the hospital.

Knowing he couldn't take he to the hospital because he would get into trouble (again) for drugs, he drove around with her. I think she died in his car. He couldn't go back to his house with her because his roommates were there, so he ended up at the Econolodge.

4:00 a.m. - 4:20 a.m.- They travel to the Econolodge. Police said there was evidence that she was at the Econolodge.

4:22 a.m. - He checks into the Econolodge. She is dying or already dead by then. He wraps her up in Econolodge comforter and takes her to mini storage later that day.

Any other thoughts?
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Great recap....I agree with your thinking that they left his house and headed to her place. Still confuse about her keys being left in her car. I am thinking that they then left her apt. and if indeed he was heading to a hospital, she may have died during that time. I think that is when he went to the storage unit. With him checking into the Econo at 4:22, it would give him enough time to drive to and hide her at the storage unit. I can't seeing him getting her into the Econo..... I think the room was on the 3rd floor. Therefore, I also think she died in the car, which would also explain him burning the car. I'm sure if she was sick and dying in that car, there was a lot of evidence. Horrible to even think about really.
 
panthera said:
Thank you for the timeline!

It's possible the keys and purse were put back in her car afterward since it wasn't too far from the storage unit she was found in. At that time he also could've been thinking if they were found in the car it would look like she was snatched from there after he'd dropped her off. MOO
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I think he took her keys and purse back to the car as well to stage the scene to make it look like a kidnapping. However, he didn't count on all the video cameras in the area.

How I wish we could see the surveillance footage from those cameras!
 
jcamille said:
I think he took her keys and purse back to the car as well to stage the scene to make it look like a kidnapping. However, he didn't count on all the video cameras in the area.

How I wish we could see the surveillance footage from those cameras!
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Oh I wish we could also. I'm waiting to see just what he's going to finally be charged with.
 
panthera said:
Oh I wish we could also. I'm waiting to see just what he's going to finally be charged with.
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The charges will be interesting.

There is no law in N.C. that says you have to be a "good samaritan" - i.e. help someone who needs medical attention.

Unless they can prove that he drugged her without her consent, I can't see any charges being brought against him related to her death. But, if the drug use was consensual and she died from a drug overdose or a combination of drug/alcohol overdose, I don't think there are any charges they can bring against him related to her death.

Plus, let's say the rape kit comes back with his DNA found on her. It would be hard for him to be charged with raping her because she left with him willingly, went to his house with him, went to her apt. with him, apparently drank and did drugs with him - all voluntarily.

Now, I can see charges for improper disposal of a body (or whatever the term may be), concealing a death, hindering an investigation, using a controlled substance, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and auto theft (since his car was stolen). So, he'll be going to jail, but I don't think it will be for kidnapping, rape, murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide.
 
jcamille said:
The charges will be interesting.

There is no law in N.C. that says you have to be a "good samaritan" - i.e. help someone who needs medical attention.

Unless they can prove that he drugged her without her consent, I can't see any charges being brought against him related to her death. But, if the drug use was consensual and she died from a drug overdose or a combination of drug/alcohol overdose, I don't think there are any charges they can bring against him related to her death.

Plus, let's say the rape kit comes back with his DNA found on her. It would be hard for him to be charged with raping her because she left with him willingly, went to his house with him, went to her apt. with him, apparently drank and did drugs with him - all voluntarily.

Now, I can see charges for improper disposal of a body (or whatever the term may be), concealing a death, hindering an investigation, using a controlled substance, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and auto theft (since his car was stolen). So, he'll be going to jail, but I don't think it will be for kidnapping, rape, murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide.
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Again, I agree. What I'm most interested in knowing is what symptoms did Valerie have that others thought she needed immediate medical attention. And I'm still not clear on just who these "witnesses" are. :waitasec: MOO
 
Search warrants for Harvey's home, the storag unit and Valerie's apt. are posted online and they reveal some interesting news.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25214360/detail.html

WSOC-TV also reported some new information tonight. They reported that one of Harvey's roommates rented the storage unit for him about 2-3 months ago. He couldn't rent it himself because he did not have valid identification. The roommate is the one who told the police about the storage unit and that's where they found her body.

The news also reported that Harvey at some point went back to his house and cleaned his room, the kitchen, the counter tops, his bedding, etc. Another roommate said he never cleans and that he was was acting nervous and strange when he came back to the house.

At his house, the police recovered drug paraphernalia commonly used to take or sell heroine and cocaine. They also found gun-related items.

At her apt., the police found a stun gun and white powder and straws.
In my opinion, she knew him before that night and that drugs are the common denominator.

Apparently, he has not been extradited yet to Charlotte and he is still in N.Y.
 
More information from the search warrants:

Around 2 a.m., one of his roommates saw Valerie lying on the bed in his room and her eyes were glazed over. The roommate told him she needed immediate medical attention and he helped Harvey carry her to his truck. Another roommate (their were six people living in the house he lived in), saw Valerie slumped over in his truck.

I don't get how she can go from being in this condition to making a coherent phone call to a friend an hour later.

Another of Harvey's roommates wasn't home because she had overdosed earlier in the evening and was in the hospital.

Yet another roommate said that Harvey met Valerie in rehab and Harvey was a well-known drug user/dealer.

There were telephone calls between his cell phone and her phone, prior to them meeting up at Thomas Street Tavern.

Roommates also said that he came and went from the house between Wednesday night and Friday, but did not spend the night at his house either night. Then, when he found out that police had been there looking for him, they never saw him again.
 
Very helpful jcamille. I put what I found interesting in the search warrants in bold below, followed by the reason this could be of interest.
FROM THE SEARCH WARRANT FOR VALERIE'S APT.

"Fosters advised that Hamilton never leaves her doors unlocked unless she is expecting company or is at the pool."
I think that the last place Valerie was conscious might have been at the hot tub or pool. Maybe he put her in the car to try to get her medical help and things went downhill from there so he freaked out and tried to cover it up.

The police seized white powder and straws from Valerie's apartment.
IMO it would make sense for so much to be left behind if Valerie believed she would return to her apartment that night. But it looks like no one did return to clean up. Is this because the hot tub was the last place Valerie was conscious and Harvey had to carry her to his car? Is this the point at which she started to require his complete attention?

FROM THE SEARCH WARRANT FOR HARVEY'S RENTAL HOME

Harvey was the last person to call her and "make contact with her.
She did know him. And speak to him for brief periods of time during those two calls.

One of the roommates said Harvey told him he was going to meet with "a friend he had been to rehab with" at the Tavern.
She did know him. And she met him in rehab.

A female roomate overdosed on heroin that night and was at the hospital.
This heroin was strong stuff, possibly laced with PCP or other toxic substance?
 
Her poor dad. Grieving already, and learning a lot more that he might not have known about his daughter.

It is hazardous to your sanity nowadays to raise children. They can pull your heart right out of your chest, the things they do and try to do. I was lucky to be in what was probably the last generation of young people who didn't know about drugs, just booze.

Sorry that Valerie's life ended as it did. Too much bad stuff out there, too many opportunities.
 
teedie2 said:
Her poor dad. Grieving already, and learning a lot more that he might not have known about his daughter.
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He knew. Early on, he said that he was worried that his daughter's personal life would be splashed across the news, but that she was "perfect" in his eyes.

If she had been in rehab, he knew. She had a previous DUI - he had to have known.

She obviously had substance abuse issues.

While I think it's admirable that her job was teaching little kids how to swim, I am also troubled by the idea that she had drug issues and was responsible for the lives of little kids in a pool. I can't imagine that the swim school didn't do background checks and regular drug tests on its employees before entrusting the lives of children to them.

I don't need to speak negatively about someone who is dead, but from everything we know now, the circumstances surrounding her life and death are vastly different than what we original thought they were.
 
Yes, I know he had to know a lot, but perhaps he didn't know the full extent of what she was doing currently, she probably wasn't being really very open about it. I'm sorry this happened, anyway.
 
Harvey appeared before a judge yesterday.

Harvey appeared on four prior charges; possession of a firearm by a felon, probation violation, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession with intent to distribute.
Harvey also now faces counterfeit charges because the substance he had that resulted in intent to distribute charges was actually fake.
During the court appearance it was revealed that Harvey told officers he uses heroin regularly, about two grams a day, although sometimes he’ll use three to four grams of heroin a day. The state also said that Harvey told officers he used on September 14, the last time Valerie Hamilton was seen alive.
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http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/Deta...g-use-emerge-in-Friday-hearing-104589994.html
 
He's charged with killing the Concord police chief's daughter, Valerie Hamilton, in September. The state said Harvey admitted to officers he regularly used heroin and did so on September 14, the day before Hamilton went missing.

Recent court documents show Harvey was indicted on habitual felon charges.

"The indictment basically has to demonstrate that he was convicted of three prior felonies,” said Mindy Sanchez, of the Charlotte School of Law. “That's how you get habitual felon status. The purpose of them doing that is to elongate his incarceration term."

Harvey will be back in court Monday.

He faces an additional breaking and entering charge and two counts of felony probation violation. Both are unrelated to the Hamilton murder charge.
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http://charlotte.news14.com/content...-appears-in-court-on-drugs-and-weapon-charges

The bolding is mine. It looks like the murder charges are going to stand.
 
Bratislava said:
http://charlotte.news14.com/content...-appears-in-court-on-drugs-and-weapon-charges

The bolding is mine. It looks like the murder charges are going to stand.
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If he injected her with heroin or any other drug, and she died, I can understand the murder charge. It likely will be up to a jury to decide if it is anything less. He also failed to seek medical assistance, and instead, after she died, stuffed her body in a storage locker. Not the actions of someone totally innocent, imo. MOO
 
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