Warrant: Wake killing stemmed from ongoing dispute between two men

The Sept. 26 killing of a man near Knightdale was the end of an ongoing dispute between him and the man accused of murdering him, a Wake County sheriff's investigator said in asking for a search warrant made public Tuesday.

Neil Algernon Cortis Dick, 36, admitted to a 911 operator and to detectives that he killed Derrick Natson outside Dick’s home at 1208 Rutledge Landing, Investigator William Gray told a magistrate.

Authorities found Natson in the home’s driveway, dead from a gunshot wound.

Gray wanted the search warrant Oct. 7 to examine the contents of a cellphone found in a Ford F-150 pickup truck that Natson had parked in the street in front of Dick’s home, the investigator said. He said he hoped to find a video of the two men meeting.

“Statements made to investigators, during the course of the investigation, by Neil Dick and others who know Mr. Dick and Mr. Natson indicate that there was an ongoing personal issue between Mr. Dick and Mr. Natson,” Gray said. He added that Dick referred to the issues when he spoke with 911 after the shooting.

Gray did not disclose in his application what the subject of the dispute was. The warrant was turned in at the Wake court clerk’s office Tuesday afternoon.

Dick was arrested at his house a little more than an hour after the shooting, records showed.

Dick is being held without bail at the Wake County Detention Center. He is scheduled for another court appearance on Oct. 19.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Warrant: Wake killing stemmed from ongoing dispute between two men."