Police: NCCU student stabbed 40 times

RALEIGH -- Investigators think a Pentecostal bishop went to his church ministry to wash blood off himself and his clothes after he killed Latrese Curtis, an N.C. Central University student, by stabbing her more than 40 times, according to information made public in court Wednesday.

Robert Lee Adams Reaves, 43, is accused of killing Curtis, 21, whose body was found Jan. 30 dumped on the side of Interstate 540 near Louisburg Road in northern Wake County. Less than an hour after her body was discovered, Curtis' husband told authorities she had failed to return to their Raleigh apartment after finishing a class at NCCU the previous night.

Little information has been released about the case, but Wednesday, Wake Assistant District Attorney Howard Cummings said in a courtroom hearing that Curtis was stabbed more than 40 times.

Also Wednesday, warrants were made public that detailed searches Wake County Sheriff's Office investigators made at Reaves' Durham home, the church ministry and both his and her cars.

Two large metal trash bins behind the Cedar International Ministry, in a shopping plaza on Allendown Drive in Durham, were seized as evidence in the case, according to court documents.

"Mr. Reaves may have gone back to this location after this homicide to clean up and possibly destroy evidence," Wake Sheriff's Investigator R.O. Campen wrote in an affidavit.

Reaves had been a bishop with the Living In Favor Global Network Churches in Goldsboro and was a former pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church near Bennettsville, S.C. He left the South Carolina church in 1987 after he was charged and later convicted of a third-degree sex offense.

George Kelly, Reaves' defense attorney, said he didn't think the evidence against his client was strong.

"Obviously, it's a circumstantial case, and we haven't heard anything about any witnesses," Kelly said.

Reaves had been on probation, and an internal investigation after Curtis' death resulted in the resignation of his probation officer, according to Keith Acree, spokesman for the state Department of Correction.

Police release timeline

The investigative documents made public Wednesday shed more light on what led to Curtis' death.

Curtis had been visiting Steven L. Randolph, Reaves' roommate, the night of Jan. 29 and they left the Birchcrest Court home in Durham at 10 p.m., according to police. A third roommate said Reaves wasn't at home when Randolph and Curtis left. When the third roommate went to bed at 12:30 a.m., Reaves still wasn't home.

At 1:36 a.m. Jan. 30, a state trooper found a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica minivan that was registered to Reaves parked on the side of I-540 near where Curtis' body was found the next morning. There was no one in the car but the trooper spotted a woman's sweater inside, according to investigators.

Some time in the early morning hours before Curtis' body was discovered, a call was placed from her cell phone to Randolph, according to the search warrants.

Curtis' body was found at 7:30 a.m. by motorists. Her car, a white Nissan Sentra, was found about a half-mile from her body, the Sheriff's Office reported. Investigators searching the Sentra took a diamond ring set, notebooks and papers from the car. There were also blood stains in the car, according to the search warrant. It is unclear whether the minivan was still parked nearby when the body was found.

A day later, on Feb. 1, Reaves, driving the minivan, went to the Wake County Sheriff's Office where an investigator noted that he had fresh scratch marks on his hand. After making what sheriff's investigators determined were inconsistent statements, Reaves was arrested and charged in connection with Curtis' killing.

After getting a judge's permission to search Reaves' minivan, investigators seized a black sock, two Starbucks cups, a cup with a lid, four towels and car cleaning supplies.

Authorities also searched Randolph's car, which was found on NCCU's campus Feb. 2, according to the warrant. Investigators took 16 swabs of DNA evidence, condoms and a paper with names and phone numbers from his car.

Next steps in case

A spokeswoman for Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison would not comment about Randolph's role in the case, if any. Attempts to reach Randolph Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Wake prosecutors have not said whether they'll seek the death penalty, but Cummings said Wednesday it was unlikely.

Kelly, Reaves' attorney, questioned how investigators went from a state trooper spotting Reaves' car to charging his client with murder.

Reaves is in custody at Central Prison awaiting his trial. No date has been set.

(News researcher Lamara Williams contributed to this report.)