MANTEO — The chief district court judge for Judicial District 1 on May 30 increased by five times the bond for a Manteo man’s recent charges as he separately awaits a trial date for a first-degree murder charge.
Judge Edgar Barnes changed the $10,000 secured bond for Timothy Lee Sauls, 66, to a $50,000 secured bond in Dare District Court on May 30, according to District 1 Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bland.
Barnes also set Sauls’ next district court date for July 18.
Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Sauls, 66, on May 18 on charges of misdemeanor “drunk and disruptive,” misdemeanor “escape from custody or resist arrest” and felony possession of a controlled substance on prison or jail premises, according to the arrest report.
Bland filed a “motion to modify conditions of release/revoke bond” May 28, which stated that the defendant had violated the conditions of his pretrial release for his Dec. 16, 2019, felony murder charge.
In that case, on March 2, 2020, Sauls was given a $60,000 secured bond with the following conditions: “Do not possess any weapons, not be away from his residence without being accompanied by a reliable adult except for religious or medical reasons, do not consume alcohol,” according to Bland’s motion.
Bland said in an interview that she thought the $10,000 secured bond “was pretty low, given he had violated the conditions of his pretrial release.”
Sauls was arrested and charged in the Dec. 16, 2019, fatal shooting of Chuck Ellis Williams, 45, of Manteo. Williams was found shot in the stomach in the 600 block of Vista Lake Drive in Manteo, according to a Dare County Sheriff’s Office release at the time.
Chief Deputy Jeff Deringer said Sauls was released from custody March 2, 2020, following the Dec. 16, 2019, arrest.
Sauls remained out of custody and attended Dare County Superior Court in person last November, at which point, plea negotiations were ongoing in the case.
Since May 18, he has remained in custody.
“Once he was arrested on these new charges, he never bonded out,” Bland said.
Sauls’ next Dare County Superior Court date is Sept. 3, according to online case information.
At that time, the state plans to set a trial date, Bland said.
