A North Carolina sheriff has been indicted for plotting to kill one of his deputies for possessing a recording of the sheriff using “racially insensitive language.”
A grand jury brought two charges of obstruction of justice against Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins on Monday for allegedly advising a man on how to kill Deputy Joshua Freeman and for not arresting the man he conspired with.
The charges come after a 10-month investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, led in part by Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.
“I thought it was important for there to be some effort to get to what would motivate individuals involved in being recorded in this conversation to discuss plans to kill someone else,” Freeman said. “That became the subject of this investigation and yesterday the Grand Jury of Granville County returned indictments against the sheriff arising out of this recording for obstruction of justice.”
No tape of the sheriff making “racially insensitive” remarks has been found. The deputy has stated that he turned over the tape to federal authorities five years ago.
Wilkins told another man to “take care of it” and “the only way you gonna stop him is kill him,” according to the indictment.
