Richard Demello will be assigned an attorney through Indigent Defense Services in Durham, according to court records.

 

Demello, charged in the March 28 murder of Michael Wayne Davis, had his first appearance in district court Friday.

Court officials expect to be notified of who the attorney will be this week.

Demello waived extradition and investigators picked him up Friday morning in Hanover County.

He was jailed without the possibility of bond.

Demello and Davis met in a North Carolina prison, where they became friends.

Davis was released first, while Demello continued to serve his sentence for several felony breaking and entering convictions.

Demello was released in January and was in touch with Davis, who helped him get back on his feet.

On March 28 authorities say Demello turned on his friend.

A woman phoned police in the early morning hours and told police that she had stayed the night at Davis' house the night before.

She said she woke abruptly between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. to find a man on top of her, who dragged her into another room in the house.

Demello allegedly already fastened boot laces to the bedpost and used them to tie the woman up.

When she asked the man where her friend Mike was, he replied, "He's not with us anymore," according to authorities.

She told police that the man seemed distressed, but didn't harm her. He told her that he would send someone to get her, then took off.

The woman managed to untie the laces and get to a friend's house in a nearby neighborhood, where she phoned police.

When investigators arrived at the home on Mobley Street where the woman said she'd been assaulted, they found a brutal murder scene.

Davis’ body was wrapped in a sheet after he was struck several times with a blunt object, possibly a hatchet.

The sheriff’s office filed warrants against Demello for the crimes against the woman as well as a murder warrant for Davis’s death and larceny of a motor vehicle.

In the assault against the woman Demello faces charges of first-degree kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

Davis died from repeated blunt force trauma to his upper torso.

Demello has a long list of past convictions, including breaking and entering, aggravated rape, assault and battery, kidnapping and larceny.