Third Man Arrested in Durham Cold-Case Slaying

DURHAM, N.C. — A third suspect in a 1999 slaying has been arrested, police said.

Lee Brewer, 26, of State Street, was arrested late last week in a motel in Atlantic City, N.J., by members of the U.S. Marshals Service's Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force, police said.

Brewer is charged with murder in connection with the Feb. 2, 1999, slaying of 63-year-old Charles Johnson, who was found shot to death in the living room of his home at 1000 Virgie St.

Johnson had been shot once in the head, and investigators said robbery and drugs appeared to be the motives for the murder.

Daniel Shawn Fraley, 29, of Edith Street, and Richard Leighton Steele, 26, of Virginia Avenue, were arrested in Durham last week. Fraley is charged with murder, while Steele is charged with accessory before the fact of murder.

The charges were filed after investigators reviewed the case, re-interviewed witnesses and re-examined evidence. At least two of three suspects knew Johnson, according to investigators.