NEWPORT, N.C. (WNCT) – After a four-day trial in Carteret County, Superior Court James William Durner, 44, of Newport was convicted of second-degree murder after a 2018 fatal shooting.
The jury deliberated for approximately 3 hours following a four-day trial before rendering its guilty verdict on September 2, 2021.
On October 20, 2018, Durner shot and killed Casey Robert Orr with a 9mm handgun following an altercation near the rooms they were renting at the Hostess House Hotel in Newport.
According to medical testimony, Orr was shot at close range with the fatal shot penetrating his heart and exiting his lower back. The jury rejected Durner’s claim of self-defense and returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of second-degree murder.
