Charles McNeair was 16 when police in Lexington arrested him on November 26, 1979, and charged him with breaking into the home of a 57-year-old white woman and raping her while armed with a claw hammer and a screwdriver.
He was found asleep in her bed, still clutching the weapons under the sheets. Police later said he was a suspect in four other attacks—two rapes and two attempted rapes—on white women in the eastern part of the segregated city. […]
Michael Hewlett is a courts and law reporter for The Assembly. He was previously a legal affairs reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal and has won two Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Awards.
More by Michael HewlettJeffrey Billman is a politics and law reporter for The Assembly. The former editor-in-chief of INDY in Durham, he holds a master's degree in public policy analysis from the University of Central Florida.
More by Jeffrey BillmanBecome an All-Access Member to get access to everything we publish in The Caucus and The Quad.
$14.99
$149.99
Plus transaction fees. Cancel anytime.
You must be logged in to post a comment.