HILLSBOROUGH - Eve Carson's death is only the latest in a string of national-interest cases to reach Jim Woodall's desk.

In three years as district attorney, Woodall has prosecuted an unprecedented number of high-profile crimes for Orange and Chatham counties, from Chapel Hill teenager Adam Sapikowski's killing his parents to the UNC-Chapel Hill student leader's recent slaying.

"We've had more cases that have gotten a lot of media attention in the last two years than in the previous 14 to 15 years I've been in this office," Woodall said.

Since late November, Woodall and his staff of 10 attorneys have taken on nine murder cases.

"We're all sort of shaking our heads," Orange-Chatham Chief District Court Judge Joe Buckner said. "When is this going to stop?"

The two counties haven't seen anything like this since 1985, when Carl Fox had 19 homicides in his first year as district attorney.

"That's been 20 years ago, and there's not been anything like that since," Fox said. "You just don't have that high a homicide rate."

DAs from across the state have taken notice, offering their assistance, especially for when the cases go to trial next year.

"It's not something we've experienced," Woodall said. "They recognize that."

A Johnston County native, Woodall has lived in Orange County for most of the time since his freshman year at UNC-CH, where he studied political science and then law. He worked as a criminal defense lawyer for three years in Goldsboro before returning to Chapel Hill in 1988. He tried his hand at the restaurant business, helping his friend Andy Michaels to run the former Bentley's on Elliott Road. Then in 1990, Fox hired him as an assistant DA.

In 1997, Woodall had the curious experience of helping to prosecute his former law professor, Barry Nakell, on shoplifting charges.

A month into Woodall's tenure as top prosecutor in early 2005, Sapikowski, 16, was charged with gunning down his parents. Woodall counts that case among his most difficult. Other than that, the toughest ones occurred while he was an assistant district attorney working for Fox.

The list includes serial rapist Dwayne Edwards and two murder cases that shocked Chapel Hill: Anthony Simpson's killing of jogger Kristin Lodge-Miller and Ralph Hamilton's shooting of his wife, Marva, in the parking lot of the Dean Smith Center.

Marva Hamilton worked at UNC Hospitals and knew Woodall's wife, Linda, a nurse there. The Woodalls met when Linda was working in the maternity ward and Jim was working his way through UNC law school as a clerk checking patients into the emergency room.

"Because I knew so many people who knew [Marva Hamilton] well, that was extremely difficult," Woodall said.

The pace picks up

But none of those cases kept Woodall as busy as he is these days.

"It all started, really, in the spring of '06," he said.

A year after Woodall took the helm, Mohammed Taheri-Azar drove a rented Jeep into a crowd near The Pit on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus, striking nine people, police said.

That summer, school board attorney John McCormick disappeared owing more than $1 million to clients and family members.

Then Hillsborough teen Alvaro Castillo was accused of fatally shooting his father and then opening fire on his former high school in Orange County.

Soon after that Woodall, a Carrboro Democrat, ran unopposed after being appointed by Gov. Mike Easley in the spring of 2005.

This month, Carson's death hit Woodall particularly hard. He has a 20-year-old daughter, Handley, who's a junior studying drama at UNC-Greensboro.

The Carson case reminded him of his repeated advice to his wife and daughter: If anyone ever tries to abduct you, don't get into a car with them. Better to take a chance of getting shot than losing any chance of escaping.

Bracing for gangs

A former multisport athlete at Princeton (N.C.) High School and now an avid sailor, he'd prefer to read about his beloved Tar Heel football team in newspapers. But he knows crime is not going away.

He's bracing for North Carolina's growing gang problem to infiltrate Orange County. Until now, he has seen only inconclusive evidence in his district.

"We've had robberies here that I personally thought were gang-related -- victims getting assaulted or injured when there was no reason for that," he said. "We've seen more red flags here recently."

Woodall is not exactly eager to tackle heinous crimes, but the fit 47-year-old with a military buzz-cut does relish the challenge. Back trouble cut short his athletics aspirations after 10th grade, but he found competition in the courtroom, where he speaks calmly and confidently, in a slow Johnston County drawl.

"It's like athletics in the sense that when something goes well, you can feel great," Woodall said. "We all as prosecutors want to believe we have some talent in the courtroom and some ability to work through these bad situations."

Dealing with reality

Woodall's 18 years as a prosecutor have taught him to deal with realities that even a legal victory can't assuage. He has a plaque in his office -- a thank-you from three young women raped by Dwayne Edwards, whom Woodall helped send to prison for up to 334 years.

"That was just a real emotional, gut-wrenching situation," he said. "There's no outcome that changes what happened. There's no way to make it right. People aren't going to walk out of the courtroom happy. Maybe 'satisfied' that some justice has been done is the best you can ask for. You're not going to make them whole again."

Colleagues say Woodall's people skills make him a good public servant.

"He takes the time to explain to people why he's doing the things that he's doing," Buckner said. "That's important. It may not be the news people want to hear, but Jim's going to take the time with them."

With his name in the news in recent weeks, Woodall has taken phone calls from victims in old cases calling to encourage him.

"That makes me feel really good," he said.