Accused NC serial killer convicted of murder

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — A Gaston County jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder in the death of a 17-year-old woman whose body was found in South Carolina.

Jurors took less than four hours to return a verdict Tuesday in the trial of 49-year-old Danny Hembree.

Hembree was accused of the 2009 killing of 17-year-old Heather Catterton, whose body was found near Clover, S.C. He’s also accused in the death of 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana, whose burned remains were found near Blacksburg, S.C. Investigators also say Hembree killed Deborah Ratchford in 1992.

Hembree testified last Friday that he didn’t kill Catterton. He said the two had smoked crack and had sex and when he woke up she was dead. He said he hid her body to avoid questions about his drug record.