But in one of the Triangle's highest-profile killings in recent years -- the slaying of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson -- the reaction took a troubling turn.

Surveillance photos of two suspects stared out from newspapers, TVs and computer screens for several days and no one in local probation offices could put names to the faces even though they were two of their own.

Probation workers were still combing their files when Chapel Hill police learned the identity of the suspects -- Demario James Atwater, 21, and Laurence Alvin Lovette, 17. The Wake County probation office should have been particularly aware of Atwater. Attempts to revoke his probation were under way.

"All of us can look at 'what if,' " said Robert Guy, director of the state Division of Community Corrections. "At first glance, this is bad."

The inability to zero in quickly on the first-degree murder suspects exposes weaknesses in a state system that the public assumes rigorously checks convicts completing sentences outside jail.

The reality is different. Despite recent reform attempts, Triangle probation offices still grapple with heavy caseloads, high turnover, an information disconnect between the adult and juvenile courts, and archaic communications systems.

An internal investigation into the handling of the Carson-case suspects is due to wrap up this week, Guy said. But already, problems are evident.

Atwater, a Durham resident convicted of burglary, larceny, breaking and entering, and illegally having a gun, was handed off from caseworker to caseworker, possibly as many as eight in three years, Guy said.

Attempts to revoke his probation should have started last summer, Guy said, shortly after a Granville County conviction for illegal possession of a .40-caliber handgun, months before the November arrest warrant was drawn up.

The case should have been transferred from Wake County to Durham, where Atwater lived.

"The red flags occurred," Guy said. "We should have been tightening down the supervision."

There also were warnings about a system in overload, a system that four years ago was under the scrutiny of an outside consultant called in by the state legislature.

The 2,012 certified officers across the state oversee 128,000 offenders: 118,000 on probation, parole or other post-release supervision; and 10,000 in the Community Service Work Program.

The National Institute of Corrections, which did the 2004 review, found that equipment was antiquated, probation officers were underpaid, caseloads in some regions were high, officers were discouraged from trying to revoke probation, and vacancies stayed open too long.

Since then, the Division of Community Corrections has provided annual reports to the legislature, but many of the problems noted by the consultant persist.

Wake, where Atwater's probation officer was, and Durham, where Lovette was placed on adult probation in January, have some of the highest turnover rates in the state -- double the statewide rate in Wake County and higher than that in Durham.

In Durham County in 2007, probation officers assigned to high-risk offenders sometimes had 98 cases, well above the 60-case maximum set by state law.

High danger, low pay

An average caseload for Wake County officers assigned to the more violent offenders was 109 for at least half of 2007, nearly double the state standard.

"It's far too heavy to be able to effectively supervise," said Colon Willoughby, Wake's district attorney.

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