In 1989, soldier Timothy Hennis walked out of a North Carolina courtroom a free man, acquitted of the gruesome murders of Kathryn Eastburn and her two young daughters in Fayetteville in 1986. It was the second time he had been tried for the crimes. Jurors in the first trial found him guilty, but the N.C. Supreme Court overturned the verdict. The story of his 1989 acquittal prompted a book and a TV movie in the 1990s. Then, last year, Hennis faced charges for the Eastburn murders a third time. In that case, a military jury convicted him based on newly discovered DNA evidence. Hennis insists he is innocent and is appealing the case in both civilian and military court. Fayetteville Observer Reporter Paul Woolverton joins host Frank Stasio to explain the long story of the Eastburn murders.
Amber Nimocks came to The State of Things in January 2009. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a survivor of 15 years in the newspaper business. As a reporter and editor, her posts have included such exotic locales as her hometown of Fayetteville, Robeson County, Wilmington, Raleigh and Fort Worth, Texas.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.