No bond for suspect in Janice Case's killing
By Nadine Parks , Bo Petersen
Updated 05:39 p.m., May 19, 2009
James Joseph Nehiley, 59, is charged with the murder of Janice Case.
Her life ended with a few shots of vodka and a pair of fists.
Janice Case had settled down in the yard behind a vacant house on Nassau Street on Friday afternoon after splitting a bottle of vodka with two friends, said James Kyles, one of those friends. Kyles and Jeff Green went to hustle up some more change for another bottle.
When they returned, a man was crouched over Case's naked body on the ground. The man tried to put pants back on her and then ran. She lay there with a crutch beside her.
Kyle said he and Green later chased down a suspect and surrounded him on the street as the man brandished a knife. They held him off until police were flagged down.
"It's over," Kyles said. "We got him."
James Joseph Nehiley, 59, was charged late Friday with murder. He stood in bond court Saturday morning with his lips tight and his head down. When asked by the judge for his address, his eyes came up briefly. "I'm homeless," he said. He was denied bond.
Nehiley confessed to the killing, according to a police affidavit.
The affidavit said he attacked Case in the backyard, hit her with his fists "and then choked the victim with his hands until the victim lost conscious ness." She died from strangulation, according to Charleston County Deputy Coroner Bobbie Jo O'Neal.
The Post and Courier
James Kyles (left) and Jeff Green talk about their friend, Janice Case, whose body was found Friday behind a house on Nassau Street.
Street people form a loose-knit community roaming the downtown area, sleeping in parks or at churches and shelters.
According to Kyles, Nehiley and Case knew each other.
Case, 53, was a regular in the Nassau Street neighborhood. She had a tendency to ramble. She had been married and divorced.
"She was harmless," Kyles said. "She wouldn't hurt anybody."
Nehiley has been in trouble before on the streets. His charges date from 2001 — public drunkenness and assault on a police officer and simple assault, indecent exposure and threats and intimidation, petty larceny, according to a State Law Enforcement Division records check.
Case died within two days of the discovery of the body of another homeless woman in Marion Square. Police don't think the death of that woman, Anita Tedder, 51, was foul play.
Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com. Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postandcourier.com.
Editor's note: Janice Case was misidentified in earlier published versions of this story. The Post and Courier regrets the error.
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Comments
oldandintheway (anonymous) says...
the insensitivity shown by the so called journalists who wrote this story is appalling.
this woman is a human being who died at the hands of some other cretin who knew nothing about the sanctity of life.
the writers should apologize for the opening line of the article.
typical journalist sensationalism.
May 17, 2009 at 7:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
wow, this guy was definately a sexual deviant. indescent exposure and a sexual assault that ended in this woman's death. who knows how many other sex crimes he has committed.
while this woman's life style was not ideal, she certainly didn't deserve to die for it. this man, however, was probably relegated to living this way due to his particular brand of criminality. Thank you, Kyle and Green, for helping to get him into custody.
May 17, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
majorjohnson (anonymous) says...
Glad they got the guy, and three cheers to these two for stalling him for the police, but I don't quite get the 2 posters here. It was awkwardly written, but I didn't note any insensitivity other than objectivity and reporting of circumstances which is as it should be, this is supposed to be a news article, not an editorial or eulogy. And peeing behind a bush (which the homeless are known to do on occasion) is indecent exposure and doesn't make a person a sexual deviant, so the only sexually deviant act the perp is known to have committed is really this one. Using an indecent exposure charge to designate someone a sexual deviant shows a lack of reasoning ability.
May 17, 2009 at 9:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
i didn't think the article was insensitive, just thinking of some of the previous comments on this from the week.
yeah, my reasoning ability can be very lacking at times. just making the link between taking all the clothes off a choked out woman and an indecent exposure charge. how silly of me! he was probably just helping her pee. should have thought that out better.
May 17, 2009 at 9:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MRSCVS (anonymous) says...
I am glad that these guys were brave enough to hold this murderer there for the cops.
Great job guys...
LMAO@Maeko last comment...
May 17, 2009 at 10:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lois_Lane (anonymous) says...
Clearly this story is poorly written. Where's the editor? Without emotion - without respect. Just like the alleged killer. Who is now guaranteed three hots and a cot, unlike what he's been used to getting.
May 17, 2009 at 10:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
yird (anonymous) says...
On the basis of the commonly accepted premise that respect is earned not commanded, by all means we must show respect to the homeless.
May 17, 2009 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Moontree (anonymous) says...
Yird's momma didn't give him enough love growing up.
May 17, 2009 at 11:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
lol @ moontree!
((((hug)))) for yird. j/k!
May 17, 2009 at 11:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
er911 (anonymous) says...
First, let me add a correction. The victim's name was Janice not Joyce. Janice was my aunt and I hate that her life ended in such a violent way. She was a good-hearted woman who lost her way many years ago. She was a mother,a sister, a daughter, and an aunt. She had family who loved her but couldn't reach her and believe me they tried. Let this stand as a lesson to those who turn to the streets, drugs and alcohol. This lifestyle is brutal and often ends violently. I do not live in Charleston so I cannot speak about the homeless there but every city in America is seeing an increase in homelessness. Many of these people have other alternatives but refuse to use the resources available to them. I wish that we could help all of them find their way back into society but there will always be those beyond our help. Keep trying is all I can say. It may make a difference someday for someone. Our family would also like to thank Mr. Kyles and Mr. Green for their heroic acts that day. It just goes to show that not all the homeless people are deviants. They were her friends and it comforts me to know that she had friends during the last days of her life. I know that they may never get to read this post but if there is anyone out there that can send out a big thank you from her family, please do. We want them to know we are very thankful. Janice will rest in peace now with her parents. We know that she is in a better place and the daily wonder and fear is over for us. God Bless the Charleston police department for their quick work and the community for all that you do for the homeless population in your area.
May 17, 2009 at 7:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oslo59 (anonymous) says...
Dear er911,
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to you and all within Janice's family. Some folks cannot empathize with the victim's circumstances, let alone know what it would be like....until it happens to them. For each of us it can be a possibility!
May 17, 2009 at 8:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
HoFoSho (anonymous) says...
Yo to er911, you a good one
May 17, 2009 at 8:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
majorjohnson (anonymous) says...
"wow, this guy was definately a sexual deviant. indescent exposure "
First you can't spell, second I was just pointing out that an indecent exposure charge does not designate sexual deviance since you seemed to imply such. Yeah, raping someone does make you a sexual deviant, but if you said "this guy was definately a sexual deviant. a driving too fast for conditions and a sexual assault who knows how many other sex crimes" I would have made the same comment. Driving too fast is no more a sex crime than indecent exposure is. Your reasoning is not just flawed, it's probably dangerous. Idiots like you come up with laws that make peeing behind a bush a register for life sexual offense and carrying a tweety bird key chain school expulsion for 6 year old girls.
As for Lois Lane, emotion doesn't belong in news reporting. I don't want the reporters emotion in my news, I just want to know what happened. If you want emotion go to the editorials or tune in to Oprah.
May 17, 2009 at 9:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Numba10 (anonymous) says...
It is not respect that is earned--respect is due each and everyone of us---it is disrepect that is earned
May 18, 2009 at 1:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForHisGlory (anonymous) says...
Dear er911,
I met Janice three days before she died and I also see Mr. Green and Mr. Kyles almost on a regular basis so I will make sure they hear what you said and I will send them your appreciation for their efforts. My roommates and I cook hotdogs twice a week downtown Charleston in order to serve the homeless community and be the hands and feet of Christ. Through this ministry I met Janice, and I am deeply sorry for your loss. I know many people on the streets who are now mourning her death.
May 20, 2009 at 1:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sister (anonymous) says...
This world is not a perfect place - far from it. Children grow into adults who choose bad lives, and are sometimes forced into bad lives due to circumstances sometimes within their control, and sometimes not.
My deep sympathy to the family of Janice. She apparently lead a very hard life, and took a route to danger. That said, nobody, nobody deserves to have their life snuffed out. She didn't deserve to live a hard life from the start to the finish.
The prepertrator also lead a very hard life, and he too chose the route to danger. He didn't deserve what happened to him from start to finish either.
It may sound like I'm defending him - I'm not. I'm his siser and I know only too well what life was like from the start, and I know only too well what happens to children brought into a world of family voilence and hopelessness.
I'm pretty angry. I'm angry at a violent parent, I'm angry at nature and nuture, I'm angry that no matter how much we try to lead our siblings in the right direction - it can be useless. I'm angry that this passes down the family line. I'm more than angry that my brother has allegedly committed this crime. I'm angry that I don't know the details of what happened that day. I'm angry that the reporters and police could have this all wrong, and more angry that they might have this all right!
Aside from the anger this ignites in all of us, we need to do something about the tragedy of homelessness, alcoholism and human voilence.
My brother left his family over 30 years ago. We all turned a blind eye. Maybe our blind eyes contribute to the tragedy of homelessness and violence.
Much sorrow for both families, mine and hers.
May 20, 2009 at 10:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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