ELIZABETHTOWN — Residents of Bladen and Robeson counties may never know what John Franklin Hester chose Friday the 13th to go on a crime spree that allegedly resulted in two deaths, a 70-year-old Bladenboro man and an 83-year-old former pastor in Lumberton.

The July 13, 2007, spree ended when a massive search was conducted by authorities in Bladen, Robeson and Columbus counties, along with officers from the State Bureau of Investigation. Hester was found later in the day hiding under a mobile home off N.C. 211 just inside the Robeson County line.

For the past three weeks, attorneys with the Bladen County District Attorney’s Office and Hester’s two court-appointed lawyers have been busy attempting to seat a jury. But through Friday morning last week, only 11 of the 16 seats — 12 jurors and four alternates —had been filled.

Recalling the spree

According to police records, Hester, who was 27 at the time, began that warm July morning by paying a visit to the home of Rudolph Hughes on Bethel Street in Bladenboro. His visit was to meant to force Hughes to give him a ride, which the elderly man did.

When the two returned to the Bethel Street home, Hester insisted that Hughes take him someplace else, but Hughes refused.

That’s when police say a disturbance began.

Hughes’ grandson, Wade Kelly, 26, was also in the home and, at some point during the altercation, Hester pushed Kelly and slashed him with a knife in the neck area. Kelly then managed to escape the home and run for help. Moments later, the first call to the Bladenboro Police Department came in. The time was 7:49 a.m.

When police arrived on Bethel Street, they found Hughes at a neighbors’ home with a neck laceration and a stab wound to the chest. He was taken to New Hanover Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Kelly was treated for his neck wound and released.

From Bethel Street, police say Hester crossed into Robeson County, where authorities there say he immediately entered the Antioch Grocery & Grill on N.C. 211 and attempted to rob the cashier at knifepoint.

Amanda West, the clerk on duty, had other ideas. She raised up with a .32-caliber pistol from behind the counter and caused Hester to flee the scene empty-handed.

Hester apparently decided to lay low for a short while, but by the early afternoon hours, Hester reportedly invaded the home of the Rev. Henry Charles Jackson on Singletary Church Road in Lumberton.

Details are remain sketchy of Hester’s time at the Jackson residence, but by the time he left, police say he left behind a deceased Jackson.

At about 5 p.m. that afternoon, the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office received a call concerning an armed robbery on Hwy. 41 in Bladen County. Reports say that Hester visited the home of Margaret Hammonds, whom he knew, to ask for the use of her phone. But when he finished his call, Sheriff’s Office investigators say he demanded money from Hammonds and threatened to kill her.

Hammonds reportedly gave Hester a jar of coins from her bedroom and, when Hester reached to picked up the telephone, Hammonds fled the home and hid in the woods until she saw Hester leave. She called 911 to report the incident and told police that Hester was driving a pickup truck.

Within 15 minutes, police say Hester was spotted back in Robeson County and pursued. But Hester abandoned the truck and ran into the woods near Marsh Road along the Bladen-Robeson line.

Shortly after 6 p.m., Hester was found cowering under the mobile home.

The charges

Hester’s first court appearance on July 16, 2007, brought a variety of charges against him.

Charges leveled against him included first-degree murder in the death of Hughes; assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury in the attack on Kelly; robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping of Hammonds.

Hester may also face charges in Robeson County after the Bladen County trial is completed.

According to police records, Hester has a rap sheet listing more than 40 charges against him. Those charges include breaking and entering, larceny, possession of stolen property, communicating threats, felony possession of cocaine, traffic violations and murder. But records also indicate that at least 25 of those charges had been dropped.