Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Sargeant Receives Life Imprisonment Without Parole in Harrington Murder

Story by Sam Calhoun

After a 2.5-week trial, a Watauga County jury unanimously convicted Neil Matthew Sargeant, 26, of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, burning of personal property and robbery with a dangerous weapon in the 2005 suffocation death of ASU student Stephen William Harrington.

Last Thursday, Superior Court Judge Ronald Payne sentenced Sargeant to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to Watauga County Superior Court files, Sargeant is now in the control of the North Carolina Department of Corrections and will not face the death penalty.

Watauga County District Attorney Jerry Wilson said Sargeant will serve one life sentence without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction. Sargeant received additional consecutive sentences for the remaining convictions, said Wilson.

Sargeant is one of three men charged in the murder of Harrington, 19, who was found dead in the trunk of his own car in Foscoe on the morning of November 8, 2005. Harrington’s arms were bound behind his back, his face was wrapped in duct tape and his body had been set aflame. The state medical examiner determined the cause of death to be asphyxiation because of the duct tape covering Harrington’s mouth and nose.

Kyle Quentin Triplett, 23, was the first co-defendant to face sentencing. Triplett pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, burning of personal property and conspiracy with Sargeant to sell and/or deliver cocaine. Triplett was sentenced to 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

More than a month ago, the third co-defendant, Matthew Brandon Dalrymple, 22, agreed to testify against his co-defendants in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table.

According to Wilson, a date for Dalrymple’s trial has not been set because the trials for Triplett and Sargeant used three superior court sessions, delaying other cases that now need to be tried. Wilson estimated that Dalrymple will come to trial in the late summer or early fall.

According to Watauga County Superior Court files, Sargeant spent 898 days behind bars before he came to trial. Attorney Baker Killian represented Sargeant in the case, with attorney Charles L. Byrd representing the state.