James Bartlett Upchurch III
| Date | July 25, 1988 |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, North Carolina, USA |
| Type | Murder |
| Deaths | Leith Von Stein |
| Non-fatal injuries | Bonnie Von Stein |
| Convicted | James Upchurch, Chris Pritchard, Neal Henderson |
Lieth Peter Von Stein (March 16, 1946 – July 25, 1988) was an American businessman whose murder launched a high-profile trial in North Carolina. The case became the subject of two books and two television movies.
An executive at National Spinning, a textile factory in Washington, North Carolina, Von Stein was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in his home as the result of a plot devised by his stepson, Christopher Wayne Pritchard. Von Stein's wife, Bonnie (Pritchard's mother), was also attacked, but survived. Pritchard's friend James Bartlett Upchurch III was convicted of first-degree murder, while Pritchard and another co-conspirator, Gerald Neal Henderson, were convicted of aiding and abetting the murder. The trial revealed that Pritchard's motive was his desire to inherit his stepfather's fortune, derived from his family's dry cleaning chain, Camel City Dry Cleaners in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
In the early morning of July 25, 1988, in the Smallwood subdivision of Washington, North Carolina, Lieth Von Stein and his wife Bonnie were attacked in their bedroom by an intruder wielding a knife and a club. Lieth was killed, but Bonnie survived with serious injuries and was able to summon aid. Lieth was stepfather to Bonnie's two children from her previous marriage, Chris and Angela Pritchard. Angela Pritchard, whose bedroom was in another part of the house, told police she slept through the attack. At the time of the murder, Chris Pritchard was living in a student residence at North Carolina State University.
When it was discovered that Lieth's estate was worth two million dollars, Bonnie Von Stein and her children, Chris and Angela, became suspects. The police investigation eventually focused on Chris Pritchard. A breakthrough came when Pritchard's college friend Neal Henderson confessed to investigators that he (Henderson) had driven another friend, James "Bart" Upchurch, to and from the scene of the murder at the instigation of Pritchard, who had promised to use his projected inheritance money to reward Upchurch and Henderson if his mother and stepfather were killed. In June 1989, nearly a year after the attack, Pritchard, Henderson, and Upchurch (all born 1968) were all arrested and charged with the crime.
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