Maggie Daniels | More Search Warrants Released in Murder of Teacher

NEWTON, N.C. — A new set of search warrants in the Maggie Daniels’ murder investigation sheds more light on the earliest stages of the investigation.

In the documents released Friday morning, detectives detail the day Daniels’ body was found in her Newton apartment.

The warrants say officers found her unresponsive, lying face down on her bedroom floor wearing only an inside-out pair of running shorts. Blood had pooled near her nose.

Officers also observed a broken full length mirror at the front of the bed with a clear liquid on it. The bedspread was rolled up into a ball and placed in the center of the mattress.

At no point do these newest set of documents mention a suspect.

Sharman Odom, 34, is charged with her murder as well as first-degree sex assault and kidnapping.

Search warrants released Thursday focused on his DNA that was found at the scene and an interview with a neighbor detailing Odom’s interest in Daniels before the murder.

Warrant 1

Warrant 2

Warrant 3

Source : http://triadnc.twcnews.com/

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Suspect in Maggie Daniels’ death indicted for murder, sexual assault

The man suspected in the death of Newton high school counselor Maggie Daniels has been indicted by a grand jury on murder, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree kidnapping charges, the District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Sharman Howard Odom, 34, of Newton, was taken into custody by police Aug. 2 at his mother’s house in Winston-Salem. At the time of the death, Odom was living in the same apartment complex as Daniels, police said.

Daniels, 31, was found dead in her Newton apartment June 28. Police said she had been strangled.

Newton police Chief Donald Brown II said investigators had focused on Odom after searching his iPhone 5 and finding three photos he took of himself June 28, the day Daniels’ body was found.

In the photos, he had scratches on his right nostril and below his left eye.

“The injuries appeared pink, suggesting they were new,” according to a search warrant in the case. And during a July search of Odom’s apartment, investigators discovered what they believe was a section of his hair.

Brown said there appeared to be a struggle in Daniels’ apartment. He said the suspect and victim apparently didn’t know each other.

Odom was born in Charlotte and lived there until 2012, when he moved to Newton to be closer to his mother, according to his family.

He was charged with crimes in 2010 and 2012, but both cases were dismissed.

Daniels grew up in a Cleveland suburb and moved to North Carolina in 2005 after graduating from Notre Dame College in the Cleveland area. She taught English and coached basketball at Newton-Conover High School and was named teacher of the year in 2011.

She went to Discovery High School in Newton in 2013 as a counselor.

Odom’s mother, Darlene, was arrested on assault charges Aug. 4 after her son’s initial court appearance in Newton. That followed an altercation between the woman and news reporters.

The District Attorney’s Office said Sharman Odom is being held without bond at the Catawba County Detention Facility, with a trial date set for Oct. 6.

Source : www.charlotteobserver.com

Timeline of events in Maggie Daniels case

 

NEWTON, N.C. – Using information from prior Hickory Daily Record reports, a copy of an Aug. 2 search warrant, Newton Police Chief Donald Brown’s news conference, numerous news releases from the Newton Police Department and interviews within the community, the Record has put together a timeline of events in the five-week long homicide investigation.

 

 TIMELINE

FRIDAY, JUNE 27

 » Video from surveillance footage at a Walmart in Conover in the afternoon shows Maggie Daniels walking out of the store.

 » Residents of Windsor Apartments complex and a janitor say they saw Daniels taking out her trash about lunchtime.

 » Sharman Odom entered Daniels’ apartment and strangled her to death, according to police.

 SATURDAY, JUNE 28

 » Newton Police Department is contacted at 9:07 a.m. about a reported damage to property at Windsor Apartments.

 » Newton Police Department is contacted at 10:37 a.m. about a death case. An investigation begins into the death, which is procedural for unattended deaths.

 » Police say Odom takes selfies on his cellphone, part of the content investigators later seize from his electronic devices.

 SUNDAY, JUNE 29

 » In the morning, investigators call Teresa Warren, owner of TRL Motors, requesting surveillance footage. Warren’s business has surveillance cameras that point at West 17th Street, the only entrance and exit for cars leading to Daniels’ apartment.

 MONDAY, JUNE 30

 » Newton police receive Daniels’ autopsy results. While the cause of death is not released to the public Aug. 4, autopsy results show Daniels was strangled to death.

 » In the afternoon, Newton Police Chief, Donald Brown, tells the media the status of the death investigation was changed from a death case to a homicide investigation.

 » Police say they have already conducted multiple interviews as of Monday evening.

 » Investigators reportedly spend hours looking at a path that leads from an elementary school, through a wooded area to the back of Daniels’ apartment.

 THURSDAY, JULY 3

 » Investigators interview Sharman Odom. Newton Police Lt. David Sigmon notes what appeared to be a patch of hair missing from the front portion of Odom’s scalp near his forehead.

 MONDAY, JULY 7

 » Investigators work through the holiday weekend, conducting interviews with members of the community. Follow up interviews are conducted.

 » Investigators request surveillance footage from businesses near the apartment complex from June 27-28.

 » Daniels’ funeral is held near her hometown of Lakewood, Ohio.

 » Ten days after Daniels was found dead, police have not named any suspects publicly. Brown later says Odom was identified as a suspect within a week of the investigation starting.

 TUESDAY, JULY 8

 » Police release a photo of Daniels from surveillance footage at a Wal-Mart in Conover taken on the day of Daniels’ death.

 WEDNESDAY, JULY 9

 » A memorial for Daniels is held at the Newton-Conover High School gymnasium. Daniels’ family travels to Newton to attend. Newton City Schools Superintendent David Stegall announces a courtyard will be built in Daniels’ honor at Discovery High School’s new location.

 MONDAY, JULY 14

 » Investigators submit evidence to the North Carolina State Crime Lab to be analyzed.

 » Investigators say they are searching phone records, social media websites and financial records.

 » Reports surface of a tweet sent from Daniels’ Twitter account on Aug. 13, 2013. Daniels tweeted a screenshot of a text message from a friend, part of which read, “Be careful with your neighbor you mentioned. I would really encourage you to think about a self defense class and to give serious consideration to other measures to protect yourself.” Police later say the neighbor referenced in Daniels’ Twitter exchange was not Odom.

 TUESDAY, JULY 15

 » Newton police say more than 100 interviews have been conducted, resulting in several individuals being eliminated as potential persons of interest.

 WEDNESDAY, JULY 16

 » An individual referenced in a text message seen on Daniels’ Twitter account is interviewed at the Newton Police Department. Police say the individual is no longer a person of interest.

 FRIDAY, JULY 18

 » More evidence is sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis.

 » No suspects have been identified publicly by police.

 SATURDAY, JULY 26

 » Starting early Saturday morning, the Newton Police Department and SBI serve three search warrants at apartment 52 in Windsor Apartments complex – Odom’s residence – with assistance from the Davie County Sheriff’s Office. Reports say investigators spent more than nine hours searching the apartment. Physical evidence that Brown later calls “crucial” to the investigation is seized. The items include an iPhone 5, which police say Odom used to take selfies on June 28. Investigators also seized a section of Odom’s hair, in a shoebox in his closet, according to a search warrant.

 MONDAY, JULY 28

 » Evidence seized during the search of Odom’s apartment was sent to the State Crime Lab to be analyzed Monday morning.

 » A month after Daniels’ death, no suspect has been named publicly.

 » The search warrants from Saturday are sealed.

 FRIDAY, AUG. 1

 » Detective R. Crawley of the Newton Police Department noticed the three photographs Odom took of himself June 28 contain a scratch on his right nostril and a scratch below his left eye. The injuries appeared new in the photograph.

 » An arrest warrant for Odom is obtained by the Newton Police Department.

 » Police attempt to make an arrest Friday evening at his apartment.

 » Newton police and SBI agents arrive back at Newton Police Department late in the evening without having located Odom.

 SATURDAY, AUG. 2

 » At 12:53 p.m., Newton Police Mjr. Tim Hayes sends out a press release with Odom’s picture and name. It is the first time in the investigation a suspect has been named publicly.

 » Investigators receive a call from Odom while they are en route to Winston-Salem, where he is staying with a relative.

 » Newton Police arrest Odom in Winston-Salem.

 » Odom’s arrest is processed at the Newton Police Department at 4:20 p.m. He is charged with murder and held at the Catawba County Jail until his first appearance Monday morning.

 » Newton Police obtain a search warrant for Odom’s apartment at 8:25 p.m. and serve the warrant within 30 minutes.

 MONDAY, AUG. 4

 » Odom makes his first appearance in Catawba County at about 10:10 a.m. He is told he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison or death, if convicted. He is held without bond.

 » Newton Police Chief Donald Brown holds a press conference at Newton City Hall, where he confirms Daniels’ cause of death. Brown also says Daniels was murdered June 27 – the day before she was found – and there were no signs of forced entry into her apartment. Newton police are waiting for evidence to be returned from the State Crime Lab before they can say whether or not Daniels was sexually assaulted.

Source : http://www.hickoryrecord.com/

Maggie Daniels | Warrant: ‘Selfie’ may have implicated man in teacher’s death

NEWTON, NC | Police have revealed how a popular Catawba County teacher died, hours after her accused killer appeared in court for the first time.

Investigators say Maggie Daniels died of strangulation.

The announcement came on Monday afternoon, hours after 34-year-old Sharman Howard Odom made his first appearance in court.

Odom is charged with murder in Daniel’s death. Her body was found inside her apartment five weeks ago, on June 28.

“She died of strangulation,” said Newton Police Chief Donald Brown. “There was a struggle.”

A search warrant obtained on Monday shows the struggle took place inside Daniels’ apartment in Newton. The warrants mention a patch of missing hair near Odom’s scalp.

The search warrant also  showed that officers noticed a scratch on the suspect’s face just a few days after Daniels was found murdered.

A detailed search of data in Odom’s phone revealed that he had taken a “selfie” photograph that could have implications in the case.

“The day that Daniels body was discovered,” says Chief Donald Brown, “Odom had taken a selfie picture of himself that showed scratches on his face.”

Brown also said the investigation has concluded that Daniels died the night before her body was found, before that “selfie” picture was taken.  Brown says more than 3,000 man hours have been spent on the case and that there is more work to do.

When asked if Maggie Daniels had been sexually assaulted, Brown said investigators are still waiting on lab tests to determine that. Brown said his department and the community are relieved that an arrest has been made.

Brown says there was nothing to indicate any relationship between Odom and Daniels.

Odom was given a court-appointed attorney and had a probable cause hearing set for August 28.

He didn’t answer any questions as police took him to jail on Saturday, but he had a smile on his face the whole time. Odom lived near Daniels, living in the same apartment complex.

Police served three search warrants a week before the arrest. WBTV obtained video from a neighbor of officers at the apartment.

Sources tell WBTV that DNA results from that search led to the arrest of Odom, who apparently skipped town Friday night when police went after him. He was taken into custody in Winston-Salem.

“Our lives have been forever changed, and we will never get over the loss of our sweet Maggie, but we are so relieved to have the horrible person responsible for this loss, in custody, never able to hurt another human being again,” Maggie’s family said on Facebook on Saturday. “Continue your prayers for all of us, and pray for justice for Maggie.”

Source : http://www.wbtv.com/