No bond for suspect accused of killing four elderly people in Halifax County

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Friday, October 27, 2017
Quadruple murder suspect makes court appearance
Quadruple murder suspect Matthew Simms appears in court Friday and is denied bond.

ENFIELD, North Carolina (WTVD) -- An arrest has been made in the August quadruple murder on Fishing Creek Road in the Glenview community of Halifax County, near Enfield, North Carolina

Matthew Simms, 25, of Enfield, has been charged with four counts of murder, Halifax County Sheriff Wes Tripp announced Thursday.

James Harris, 88, Janice Harris, 72, James Whitley, 76, and Peggy Jo Whitley, 67, were fatally shot as they played cards around a kitchen table at the Harrises' home the evening of August 20.

Tripp said in August that a family member found the bodies after checking on the home in the Glenview community, just off Interstate 95 north of Rocky Mount.

James Whitley and Peggy Whitley
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At Simms' first appearance in court on Friday, the 25-year-old briefly cried and asked the judge to expedite his trial. Simms is being held with no bond.

The case is still under investigation, the sheriff said.

SUSPECT LINKED TO PREVIOUS MURDER CASE

Tripp said Simms was arrested in 2015 in connection with the murder of Jarshamel Cambridge.

He was originally held with no bond in that case, but he was eventually granted bond. Simms made bail and was released in that case.

Simms was due in court in June for that case but did not appear.

A warrant was put out after his failure to appear, Tripp said, and he was arrested in September.