Catawba And Iredell County Men On Death Row Have Sentences Reduced To Life In Prison

On his final day in office on Tuesday, (December 31), Governor Roy Cooper announced that he has commuted the sentences of 15 people on death row in North Carolina, including a convicted killer from Catawba County, to life without the possibility of parole. Governor Cooper commuted the sentences after a review of detailed petitions for clemency submitted by the defendants, input from district attorneys and the families of victims, and close review by the Governor’s Office.

Among the individuals who had their sentences commuted is 53-year-old Nathan Wayne Bowie. He was convicted for the murders of Nelson Shuford and Calvin Wilson outside an apartment complex in Catawba County in May, 1991. Bowie and his co-defendant, his uncle William Barfield Bowie, were convicted in 1993.

Cooper also commuted the sentence of 66-year old Rayford Burkes who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in Iredell County on April 1, 1993. Burkes has maintained his innocence in the death of Timothy Morrison, who was shot to death at a reputed drug house in Statesville on January 23, 1992. According to court records, Morrison had previously testified against Burke in another murder trial.

No executions have been carried out in North Carolina since 2006 due to ongoing litigation. Before the latest commutations, North Carolina had 136 offenders on death row.

The Governor’s Clemency Office received petitions for clemency from 89 of the death row inmates.

Rob Eastwood-WHKY contributed to this story