| Date | July 25, 1988 |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Deaths | Lieth Von Stein |
| Non-fatal injuries | Bonnie Von Stein |
| Convicted | James Upchurch, Chris Pritchard, Neal Henderson |
Lieth Peter Von Stein[a] (March 16, 1946 – July 25, 1988) was an American businessman whose murder launched a high-profile trial in North Carolina. The case became the subject of two books and two television films.
An executive at National Spinning, a textile factory in Washington, North Carolina, Von Stein was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in his home as the result of a plot devised by his stepson, Christopher Wayne Pritchard. Von Stein's wife, Bonnie (Pritchard's mother), was also attacked, but survived. Pritchard's friend James Bartlett Upchurch III was convicted of first-degree murder, while Pritchard and another co-conspirator, Gerald Neal Henderson, were convicted of aiding and abetting the murder. The trial revealed that Pritchard's motive was his desire to inherit his stepfather's fortune, derived from his family's dry cleaning chain, Camel City Dry Cleaners in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[1][2]
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