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Baddour said the defendants probably already know who the informants are because they have had access to the sealed search warrants. Still, defense attorneys objected to Baddour's order, saying news coverage would convict their clients before the trial ever began.

"Anything that causes pretrial publicity is going to taint the jury pool," said Lovette's attorney, Karen Bethea Shields. "That's just common sense."

But Baddour said the judicial process -- including pretrial motions, jury selection and instructions to the jury --would ensure a fair trial.

Atwater's attorney, Jonathan Broun, declined to say whether he or co-counsel James Williams planned to challenge any of the evidence contained in the search warrants before trial.

The documents show police investigated whether Carson was sexually assaulted. Woodall said Friday that she was not.

What police sought, found

The search warrant for Atwater's and Lovette's homes states that police were seeking a shotgun, a .25-caliber pistol, ammunition, hooded sweatshirts, blue jeans, white athletic shoes, a black coat, a Houston Astros baseball cap, gloves, Carson's ATM card, keys, purse, wallet or identification. They also sought cell phones and computers or digital storage devices, cash and cameras. The documents indicated that police were looking for gang-related material, including clothing, bandannas or documents.

Documents indicate police did not find all of these things. At Atwater's home at 2507 S. Roxboro St., Apt. 11, they seized assorted vehicle keys, two shotgun shells, a Motorola cell phone, two cameras, one house key, assorted notes, clothing and drug paraphernalia.

Police also collected samples of hair, saliva and blood from Lovette and Atwater for DNA evidence.

Police seized more than a dozen pairs of shoes, mostly athletic sneakers, from Lovette's home at 1231 Shepherd St. in Durham. They took eight pairs of shoes from Atwater's residence. Probation records show that Durham police were investigating Lovette in a case of stolen shoes.

TIMELINE

The release of search warrants in the Eve Carson case Friday provides the following sequence of events concerning suspects Demario Atwater and Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr.:

MARCH 5, 5:30 A.M.: Police find Carson's body on Hillcrest Drive in Chapel Hill. Carson had been shot several times.

MARCH 6: Carson's Toyota Highlander is located. Police recover a partial shoeprint on a Bank of America receipt that investigators say was generated when the suspects made a withdrawal.

MARCH 11, 9:58 P.M.: An anonymous caller tells CrimeStoppers of Orange County that someone she knows as "Rio" told her he and another person took Carson to an ATM and planned to kill her. The caller refers police to a confidential witness she says knows more about the crime.

MARCH 12, 7:09 AM: The State Bureau of Investigation interviews the confidential witness. The witness identifies "Rio" as Atwater and says he told her that he and Lovette entered Carson's house through an open door, forced Carson into her Toyota Highlander and took her to an ATM. The witness says Atwater and Lovette took $1,400 from Carson's bank account and that Carson was shot multiple times -- by Lovette and then by Atwater. The witness says Lovette lives on Shepherd Street in Durham.

MARCH 12: Atwater is arrested and charged with the murder. He tells police he was in Chapel Hill the night Carson died and inside her Toyota Highlander. He also confirms he is the man in a BP convenience store surveillance photo and identifies Lovette as the man pictured in an ATM surveillance photo taken the morning Carson was killed.

MARCH 13: Lovette is arrested and charged with Carson's murder.

COMPILED BY STAFF WRITER KRISTIN BUTLER

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