They were among about a dozen people in court.

He did not make a statement before sentencing.įriends and relatives of McDowell sat on the right side of the courtroom. McDowell, clad in an orange Rowan County Detention Center jumpsuit, answered only yes and no to Wagoner’s standard plea questions. He acknowledges that,” Bingham told the court. McDowell is a, in my opinion, a good guy who got himself in a terrible circumstance, made some terrible decisions. He said, contrary to a written statement by Sullivan, McDowell was not aware Lowder intended to shoot Vogt.īingham said McDowell believes he is guilty of being an accessory, not a murderer, but accepted the deal rather than continue with the lengthy litigation. He will also be given credit for the time he has served since his 2007 plea deal and the time he spent in jail prior to the initial plea arrangement.ĭuring a final statement before sentencing, McDowell’s attorney, David Bingham, told the court McDowell has had few infractions in prison. That lowered his sentence and placed it in the lowest of the three possible ranges. McDowell, 38, could have been sentenced up to 40 years in prison, Wagoner said.īut his family – a support system in the community – was counted as a mitigating factor. The resident later located the 18-year-old Vogt partially buried in brush in the woods. In September 2005, a resident heard gunshots then saw Lowder, McDowell and Sullivan leaving the area. Sullivan served time and has been released. The sentence ran concurrent with the previous conviction of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury in 2005. Sullivan pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact of second-degree murder in 2010. 22, 2021, according to the North Carolina Department of Corrections. She will serve 14 years to more than 18 years. Lowder, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June. After Vogt died in May 2008, then-District Attorney Bill Kenerly filed new charges against the three, who were serving jail sentences.

Vogt survived the gunshots, but was paralyzed.

McDowell pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury with intent to kill in 2007 after he, then-girlfriend Chandaliea Lowder and Jason Ray Sullivan shot Vogt twice in the woods off Russell Farm Road in Enochville. McDowell will serve 11 years to more than 14 years in prison. Judge Anna Mills Wagoner accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder offered by District Attorney Brandy Cook in a special session of Rowan County Superior Court. By Nathan – Pleading guilty for the second time in the shooting of Thomas Vogt Jr., sentencing went as expected for Michael Joseph McDowell Tuesday.

David bingham attorney salisbury nc