Outer Banks man awaiting murder trial arrested and released in less than 2 hours

Corinne Saunders, The Virginian-Pilot
·2 min read

MANTEO — A Manteo man awaiting trial for a 2019 first-degree murder charge was arrested and released Saturday in less than two hours on charges including possessing a controlled substance on prison or jail premises and being intoxicated and disruptive.

Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Timothy Lee Sauls, 66, at 4:38 p.m. on May 18. His charges include misdemeanor “drunk and disruptive,” misdemeanor “escape from custody or resist arrest” and felony possession of a controlled substance on prison or jail premises, according to the arrest report.

Sauls’ release order was issued less than two hours later, at 6:22 p.m., according to online court records.

Neighbors called 911 to report a “drunk disturbance” in the 600 block of Vista Lake Drive in Manteo, and when deputies arrived and identified Sauls, they found he had an outstanding warrant for a controlled substance charge from another North Carolina county, according to Chief Deputy Jeff Deringer.

“At the arrest site, he refused to comply with commands that were given by the deputies and therefore delayed and obstructed their duties,” Deringer said.

When Sauls was processed at Dare County Detention Center, “marijuana was found on his person,” which led to the felony controlled substance charge, Deringer said. He was not immediately aware of what the controlled substance charge from the other county was, or which county issued that warrant.

Sauls had his first appearance hearing on May 20, and his “amended bond setting” from that day is a $10,000 secured bond, according to online court records. Sauls’ probable cause hearing will take place May 30 in Dare County District Court.

Sauls is separately awaiting his next court date and eventual trial, as he is charged in the Dec. 16, 2019, fatal shooting of Chuck Ellis Williams, 45, of Manteo. Williams was found shot in the stomach in the 600 block of Vista Lake Drive in Manteo, according to a Dare County Sheriff’s Office release at the time.

Sauls’ address is listed in the 600 block of Vista Lake Drive, but the relationship between Sauls and Williams and the circumstances of the shooting remain unclear.

The court set Sauls’ secured bond at $60,000 on March 2, 2020, in that case, according to online court records.

A disposition hearing in Dare County Superior Court was rescheduled from April 1 to Sept. 3, online case information shows.

As of last November, plea negotiations were being discussed.

District 1 District Attorney Jeff Cruden said Thursday that the September court date is an administrative setting, so the court will be hearing pre-trial motions before setting a trial date.

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“There’s no [plea] agreement that I’m aware of,” Cruden said.

Cruden said he hopes to try the case as soon as possible, but Sauls’ attorney, Christine Malumphy, “has murder cases all over the state; it’s very hard to get her schedule to coincide to try his case.”