Judge denies bond for Pepion, Groenwold

During a Feb. 16 hearing in Haywood County, District Court Judge Brad Letts denied bond for the two on first-degree murder charges. Letts then appointed Waynesville attorney Reid Brown to represent Pepion, while Groenwold waived his right to an appointed attorney. Letts has scheduled a probable cause hearing in the case for Wednesday, Feb. 28, in Haywood County.

Friends last saw 22-year-old McCoy at Thunder Ridge night club in Maggie Valley Feb. 1. Her friend Chastity Flores said McCoy rode with her to her Beaverdam home. Flores reported that Pepion and Groenwold, his cousin, followed them in Pepion's 1996 Plymouth van.

According to Flores, McCoy left at 2:53 a.m., heading for home in her own 1997 Chevrolet pickup truck. The burned remains of McCoy's truck were found at 6:30 that morning near Brevard in Transylvania County.

Just three days prior to appearing in the Haywood County Courthouse, Pepion retained attorneys Paul Welch of Brevard and Brown to represent him on a charge of burning personal property, while a District Court judge in Transylvania County appointed Brevard attorney Scott Neuman to represent Groenwold on the same charge.

McCoy's body was found in a lightly-wooded area just 60 feet from I-26 in Buncombe County on Feb. 11, just hours after Pepion and Groenwold were extradited from Montana to North Carolina. Law enforcement personnel had been searching for the missing Cherokee woman since Feb. 2.

Pepion failed to keep a Feb. 6 court appearance in Jackson County on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and first-degree kidnapping in regard to an October incident involving McCoy. Court records indicate Pepion allegedly placed the blade of a 4-inch pocket knife to McCoy's throat.

When he failed to appear in court, Judge Steve Bryant ordered him arrested. Pepion and Groenwold were apprehended on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, where Pepion's father lives. See related story on page 11A.

Back to Archive: 02/22/01.