Repository Collection 03
Missing Guns, Drugs, and Money at Buncombe County Sheriff's Department
ARTICLE SOURCE ENTRY
Last Revised • July 6, 2026
This Source Verification Page documents a follow-up newspaper article reporting additional audit findings concerning evidence management within the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department. The article details missing firearms, narcotics, cash, and other evidence while discussing deficiencies in inventory controls and chain-of-custody procedures. It provides independent reporting relevant to the allegations presented throughout Statement of Facts B regarding evidence preservation and accountability.
This Source Verification Page documents a follow-up newspaper article reporting additional audit findings concerning evidence management within the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department. The article details missing firearms, narcotics, cash, and other evidence while discussing deficiencies in inventory controls and chain-of-custody procedures. It provides independent reporting relevant to the allegations presented throughout Statement of Facts B regarding evidence preservation and accountability.
Related SMAR Citation
["Missing guns, drugs, and money at Buncombe County Sheriff's Department", MountainXpress, 6/13/07]
Source Name
Missing guns, drugs, and money at Buncombe County Sheriff's Department
Author(s)
Cecil Bothwell
Publication
Mountain Xpress
Publication Date
June 13, 2007
Verification Source
Missing guns, drugs, and money at Buncombe County Sheriff's Department
Source Location
Mountain Xpress
Highlighted Pages
1 - 2
Referenced in the Supplemental Motion
Page 16, Paragraph 22
Source Status
✔ Article obtained and reviewed.
✔ Relevant passages highlighted.
✔ Publicly available source
✔ Included within the Source Verification Archive
Cited to Support
Lyle C. May alleges that serious deficiencies within the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department evidence room extended beyond isolated inventory discrepancies and reflected systemic failures in evidence management and chain-of-custody procedures that existed during the time period of his 1997 Asheville, North Carolina case. The Mountain Xpress article is cited to document audit findings identifying poor inventory controls, missing evidence, compromised evidence packaging, failures in chain-of-custody documentation, and the inability to account for substantial quantities of cash, firearms, and narcotics. May relies upon this source to support his claim that deficiencies in evidence handling created conditions that could compromise criminal prosecutions, undermine confidence in the integrity of physical evidence, and potentially affect the reliability of past convictions.
Supporting Documents
Original Article
Link to the original article.
Highlighted Research Copy
Working research copy containing the highlighted passages cited in the Supplemental Motion.
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Return to Statement of Facts B
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