Valerie Hamilton -- Found Deceased 9/18/10

Standing together with one of their own
Hickory officers rally to support former deputy chief



HICKORY -- The Concord Police Department’s Chief of Police Merl Hamilton began his law enforcement career in 1981 when he joined the Hickory Police Department.

Hamilton’s 23-year-old daughter was reported missing in Charlotte Thursday.

His former Hickory Police Department coworkers have rallied to support him.

“This came as a shock to those of us who worked with him,” Deal said. “We’re trying to offer as much support as we can to the Hamilton family. His daughters grew up in this community.”

Read more: http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2010/sep/18/standing-together-one-their-own-ar-404255/

Search Continues For Police Chief's Missing Daughter

Posted: 11:14 pm EDT September 17, 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Authorities continued to search for a police chief's missing daughter on Saturday.

A Charlotte woman who partied with Valerie Hamilton, the daughter of the Concord Police Chief,the night she vanished, said Friday evening she's hoping her missing friend will call her and solve the mystery.

Valerie Hamilton was last seen at a bar in Charlotte's Plaza Midwood neighborhood early Wednesday morning.

Hamilton is the daughter of Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton.

Robin Varner and Kathryn Foster work with Hamilton at the Little Otter Swim School.

Read more: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25060037/detail.html

Missing woman's body found; murder warrant issued

By Steve Lyttle
Posted: Sunday, Sep. 19, 2010



The body of Valerie Hamilton, the 23-year-old daughter of Concord's police chief, was found Saturday night in a storage unit on Monroe Road in southeast Charlotte, police say.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have issued a murder warrant for 34-year-old Michael Neal Harvey, a registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal record.

Harvey is thought to be the man seen on video surveillance leaving the Thomas Street Tavern in Plaza Midwood early last Wednesday morning with Hamilton. She had not been seen or heard from since leaving the restaurant.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/19/1704091/missing-womans-body-found-murder.html

Oh, man! That's awful! Not the news we were all hoping for.

Thanks J4A for the update.

Suspect in killing of police chief's daughter caught
Officer had gone on national TV to urge peers to 'get out there and find this guy'

msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 1 hour 14 minutes ago

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A convicted rapist wanted in the killing of a woman whose body was found in a self-storage unit was arrested Monday, police said shortly after the woman's father, a N.C. police chief, had pleaded with peers nationwide to find the man.

FBI and U.S. Marshal officers arrested Michael Neal Harvey in Niagara Falls, N.Y., the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reported.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police had issued an arrest warrant for the 34-year-old after the body of Valerie Hamilton was discovered Saturday in a self-storage facility in Charlotte.

Read more:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39270507/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Suspect in woman's slaying to return to NC from NY

Associated Press - September 21, 2010 2:15 PM ET

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) - The man accused of killing a North Carolina police chief's daughter and dumping her body in a self-storage unit has waived extradition from New York.

In a five-minute hearing Tuesday, Michael Neal Harvey said he would not fight extradition and would return to the Charlotte, N.C., area.

Read more: http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=13192229

Suspect claims Hamilton overdosed

By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff
September 21, 2010

CHARLOTTE -- The man suspected in Valerie Hamilton's death made his first appearance in a New York state courtroom on Tuesday. Michael Harvey said he would not fight extradition and would return to Charlotte to face the charges against him. Outside the courtroom he said he was innocent and that the 23-year-old daughter of Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton overdosed in her sleep.

"I didn't do it," Harvey said. "She OD'd in her sleep. Did you hear that? She OD'd in her sleep."

Read more: http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/charlotte/630639/suspect-claims-hamilton-overdosed

Click the link to see a video of Harvey's quote.

x

Good question Tish. I've never heard of somebody doing that.

Suspect claims Hamilton overdosed, autopsy report released

By: Aundrea Cline-Thomas
Updated 09/21/2010 09:33 PM

~Snipped~

Hamilton was last seen alive around 1:30 a.m. last Wednesday morning after police say she voluntarily left the Thomas Street Tavern with a man believed to be Harvey.

During the investigation, detectives say they found evidence of drug use. According to witnesses, Hamilton needed urgent medical attention, that they say Harvey did not provide despite their urging.

“All I know is that he said they left the house with her to take her to the hospital,” said Kim Steele. “I don't know why she never got there, unless she died along the way and he panicked.”

Police say Harvey tried to conceal Hamilton's death by attempting to get rid of any physical evidence before dumping her body in a storage unit on Monroe Road.

Read more: http://charlotte.news14.com/content/local_news/charlotte/630639/suspect-claims-hamilton-overdosed--autopsy-report-released

Harvey told his friend he woke up next to a dead girl. He also told his friend that he and Valerie did a type of heroine called black tar.

Harvey extradition could be delayed

by RAD BERKY / NewsChannel 36
WCNC.com
Posted on September 22, 2010 at 6:23 PM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte police may face an additional hurtle in the investigation into Valerie Hamilton's death, as the man accused of murdering her is still in New York and said to be going through severe drug withdrawal.

Those withdrawal symptoms will likely delay 34-year-old Michael Harvey’s return to Charlotte, where he will face charges in connection with Hamilton’s death.

The NBC affiliate station in Buffalo, New York is reporting that Harvey may not be transported from Niagara County to Charlotte until this weekend.

Read more: http://www.wcnc.com/news/Michael-Harvey-Said-to-be-Going-Through-Withdrawl-103565989.html

Accused killer of NC chief's daughter sick in jail

By EMERY P. DALESIO
Associated Press Writer
Posted: Thursday, Sep. 23, 2010

RALEIGH, N.C. The man accused of killing a North Carolina police chief's daughter was recovering from an undisclosed illness at a western New York jail Thursday, as he waited to be extradited.

Michael Neal Harvey, 34, is accused of murder in the death of Valerie Hamilton, 23. She was the daughter of Merl Hamilton, police chief of the Charlotte-area city of Concord.

Harvey was being held in a Niagara County, N.Y., jail near his boyhood home. Harvey is receiving medical care in a special unit of the jail for a sickness Niagara County Sheriff Jim Voutour declined to describe.

"I can't tell you about his medical condition but I can tell you he's sick," Voutour said.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/23/1713293/accused-killer-of-nc-chiefs-daughter.html

Police searches reveal more details in Hamilton case
CMPD find unidentified white powder, straws at Valerie Hamilton's apartment; find scales at Harvey's home.

By Ely Portillo
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Published: September 30, 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Investigators seized an unidentified white powder and straws when they searched the home of a police chief's daughter, and found scales at the home of the man arrested in connection with her death, according to search warrants filed Tuesday that reveal more details about the case.

Valerie Hamilton, 23, was seen leaving Thomas Street Tavern early Wednesday, Sept. 15, with a man police later said was Michael Harvey. Her father, Concord police Chief Merl Hamilton, reported her missing after she failed to show up for work or contact him.

In the days following Hamilton's disappearance, police searched her Arboretum-area apartment, Harvey's residence near the Belmont neighborhood, and the Monroe Road storage unit where Hamilton's body was found.

Read more: http://www2.independenttribune.com/news/2010/sep/30/police-searches-reveal-more-details-hamilton-case-ar-427799/

Warrants reveal new details about death of police chief's daughter

Updated: Sep 30, 2010 1:42 PM EDT
By Jeff Rivenbark

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Search warrants reveal new details in the death of a woman whose body was found earlier this month in a mini storage facility in east Charlotte.

Valerie Hamilton, 23, was reported missing by her father on Wednesday, September 15th.

Police later said Hamilton went to a bar and left with 34-year-old Michael Harvey.

This week, police released three search warrants that detail evidence in which detectives seized at three locations pertinent to the investigation -- Hamilton's apartment, the house where Harvey lived with several roommates, and the mini-storage facility where her body was found.

Read more: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13245416

Search Warrants

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wbtv/Search%20of%20Hamilton%27s%20Apartment.pdf

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wbtv/Search%20of%20Harvey%27s%20home.pdf

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wbtv/Search%20of%20mini-storage%20unit.pdf

Man charged in Valerie Hamilton's death headed back to Charlotte

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.
cwootson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Tuesday, Oct. 05, 2010

Michael Harvey, who was arrested in connection with the death of the Concord Police Chief's daughter, is headed back to Charlotte after three weeks in a New York Jail.

Harvey is no longer in Niagara County jail, where he has been since he was arrested on September 20, officials there confirmed Tuesday evening.

He was charged with murder in connection with the death of Valerie Hamilton, who was last seen with Harvey at Thomas Street Tavern near Plaza Midwood.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/05/1741453/man-charged-in-valerie-hamiltons.html

Suspect in death of police chief's daughter appears in court

Updated: Oct 06, 2010 2:28 PM EDT
By Jeff Rivenbark

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - After spending two weeks in a jail in New York, the man accused of killing the daughter of Concord's police chief appeared in a Charlotte court Wednesday afternoon.

Michael Neal Harvey, 34, charged in the death of Valerie Hamilton, was brought back to Charlotte late Tuesday night. In the court appearance Wednesday, Harvey was read all of the charges against him and appointed an attorney.

Read more: http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13245416

Man indicted for murder in police chief daughter's death

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A Charlotte man was indicted by a Mecklenburg County grand jury on murder charges in connection to the death of an area police chief's daughter in mid-September.

Michael Neal Harvey, 34, is charged with murder in the death of Valerie Hamilton, the daughter of Concord's police chief, Merl Hamilton.

Read more: http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13385112

New charge filed in death of police chief's daughter

By Meghan Cooke
Posted: Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010



Police have filed a new charge against the man arrested in connection with the death of the daughter of Concord's police chief.

Michael Neal Harvey, 34, who is charged with murder in the death of Valerie Hamilton, now also faces a felony charge of concealing a death, according to arrest records.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/31/1801284/new-charge-filed-in-death-of-police.html

Autopsy: Valerie Hamilton Died From Drug Overdose

Updated: 6:02 pm EST January 21, 2011

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The cause of death for Valerie Hamilton, daughter of Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton, is a combined “heroin and cocaine” toxicity, the Mecklenburg County medical examiner said.

Hamilton's autopsy report says a lethal amount of cocaine and heroin were found in her system and that a fresh needle mark was found on her arm. The autopsy didn't show any other signs of trauma.

Hamilton’s body was found in a storage unit on Sept. 18. She was reported missing earlier that week after not showing up for work or contacting friends or family members. Friends of Hamilton, 23, said they last saw her at the Thomas Street Tavern, a popular restaurant and bar in Charlotte’s Plaza Midwood neighborhood, with Michael Harvey, who is charged with murder in the case.

Read more: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26575316/detail.html

An overdose........I wonder if the murder charge will still stand.

~Snipped~
"The question is whether he was just present when the drugs were being consumed or whether he injected the drugs," Snyder said. "Did he cause her to consume the toxic amount of drugs? And that's what's going to be what the DA makes the decision on."

Snyder said it will be difficult to prove Harvey forced Hamilton to ingest the drugs.

He said it makes sense to keep the murder charge at this point so prosecutors can go back and reinterview witnesses.

But Snyder thinks a plea deal is the most likely outcome.

"That would be a very difficult case to prove for murder," Snyder said.

A murder charge probably won't stick. They may be able to charge Harvey with negligent homicide or manslaughter for failing to get Valerie the medical attention she required that night.

I too, do not think the murder charge will be upheld. Even her dad, the chief of police in Concord thinks that charge will be dropped. He knew his daughter was doing drugs, but I don't think he knew about the heroin.

I'm sure they were both doing the drugs, and she died in her sleep, and possibly the guy was asleep too. They can charge him with moving and hiding the body, and not reporting her death.

Man pleads guilty in 2010 death of police chief's daughter

Updated: Jun 08, 2012 4:38 PM EDT
By Chris Dyches

The man accused in the death of former Concord Police Chief Merl Hamilton's daughter pleaded guilty in court and has been sentenced to more than seven years behind bars.

According to Assistant District Attorney Bill Bunting, the 37-year-old plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Friday in the 2010 death of Valerie Hamilton. Hamilton also pleaded guilty to concealing a body and being a habitual felon.

He was sentenced to 87-114 months in prison by Superior Court Judge Hugh B. Lewis.

Read more: http://www.wbtv.com/story/18740653/michael-harvey-pleads