Kenneth Pitts and Thomas Warner, the two Delaware men arrested in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Bryce Finn were charged with murder and ordered held without bail Thursday at an arraignment in Haverhill District Court sitting in Newburyport.
After a court clerk read the charges, Judge Allen Swan entered pleas of not guilty on the defendants’ behalf. Neither man appeared in court with an attorney Thursday, leaving Swan to continue the arraignment until Friday morning. A court-appointed attorney is being arranged for Pitts, while Warner told Swan he intends to hire his own private attorney.
Swan said he would appoint attorneys for both men for the purposes of bail only in time for Friday’s hearing. The pair is being held without bail until then.
Nicholas Mandato (Booking photograph courtesy of the Sussex Correctional Institution)
Nicholas Mandato, the other man charged with Finn’s murder, was arraigned on July 12.
As WHAV previously reported, all court records and police reports relating to the case are under wraps for fear of the destruction of evidence,” the District Attorney’s office said.
“Disclosure of the matters in the affidavit will likely compromise the investigation by triggering flight of co-conspirators and the destruction or secretion of critical evidence,” Assistant District Attorney Christina Ronan wrote in a District Court motion filed June 27, the same date an arrest warrant was issued. “It may further impair law enforcement officials’ ability to assess the veracity of any tips they might receive.”
Ronan also argued the material could hamper jury selection.