A Claremont man is being held without bond in Catawba County after being charged with murder. 27-year-old Marvin Jacob Lee made his first appearance in Catawba Count District Court Monday in connection with the shooting death of a Newton man. Lee allegedly shot and killed 26-year-old Jefferson Lee Heavner during last Friday's snowstorm. Reports say Lee's vehicle ran off a snow-slickened roadway in southeast Catawba County. The judge did not set a bond for Lee. His probable cause hearing is scheduled for February 15th.

A Marion man who set his wife's residence ablaze last month faces a new charge of arson, as well as child abuse. Detective Bille Brown of the The McDowell County Sheriff's Office Monday, charged 30 year old Jonathan James Stroud with felony breaking and entering a motor vehicle, misdemeanor injury to personal property, misdemeanor larceny and misdemeanor child abuse. Stroud was charged in December for setting a fire to a camper on U.S.70 West after ongoing domestic issues with his estranged wife, who owns the camper. She was not home at the time. That incident led authorities to other crimes they also believe were committed by stroud.