LETTER TO JUDGE ROBERT ROUPE

Steven Patten
459 Center Road
Bradford, NH 03221
(603) 748-1094

June 4, 2024

Judge Robert Roupe
NC Superior Court District 4
625 Church Street
Jacksonville, NC 28540

RE: State of NC V. Hunter Oneil Wells (Docket #19056327)

Greetings Your Honor,

It has been six months since making your acquaintance in Onslow County Superior Court; time I have needed to process every moment of the proceedings which afforded the opportunity. I have reviewed the transcript of Hunter Wells’ sentencing hearing multiple times since receiving the document and contemplated writing this letter. It is important to me that you read the following words, but perceivable that my words will change nothing. Just the same, I will write in Morgan Patten’s Honor.
I wish to convey my respect and admiration for the hard work and due diligence required for you to attain your position within the North Carolina Courts. As well, I will say that your patience, comprehension, practical insight and experience was well received by all Morgan Patten supporters in attendance, especially Renee, myself and Philip. One obvious irritant of the proceeding was the special instructions of the day, including your reprimand of Mr. Thomas Lee, “Sir, I’m not going to listen to you run down any law enforcement agency or this DA’s Office”, and later to Philip, “Mr. Brandon, I’m not going to hear denigration of law enforcement. I understand the facts and have heard what’s happened.”
In actuality, I believe that you “understand the facts” as they were presented to you and you heard select fragments of what happened on and since November 8, 2019. Morgan Patten’s supporters were attempting to share additional facts of consequence with the Court. You displayed great patience of duration, though little of substance. Per Benjamin Franklin, “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority”.
My heart tells me that you are a good and just man; I believe that if you realized all of the known and unknown facts surrounding the death of Morgan Patten, you would acknowledge the associated injustice.
I understand that sentencing guidelines in NC are structured by the General Assembly and that you do not hold the authority to deviate from these guidelines. I recognize the institutional benefits of negotiated plea agreements. I have formed a very robust opinion of the criminal justice system in North Carolina based on four and a half years experience as a real victim advocate, not an office assistant in a grant-funded position with a business card.
Here are my reflections on the sentencing hearing of Hunter Oneil Wells.

During the presentation of factual basis by the State, Senior Assistant District Attorney Michael Maultsby stated that Hunter Wells told Trooper Taylor (Stokes) Williams that Morgan had been in the rear seat with Charles Cornwall. Investigators never asked first responders for their opinion. A private investigator asked first responders where Morgan had been seated in the vehicle and they unanimously agreed that she had been ejected from the front passenger seat. To this very day, and among many other imperative details, we do not know where Morgan was seated in the vehicle.

Mr. Maultsby stated that officers from NC State Highway Patrol took possession of the “black box” from Wells’ truck and estimated that he was traveling over 80mph when he lost control of the vehicle negotiating a curve on White Oak River Road. Wells’ truck actually left the right side of White Oak River Road, abruptly, prior to entering the right hand curve while traveling at a recorded 86mph. The speed recorded by the event data recorder (black box) is inaccurate, though. Wells’ truck was equipped with size 305-45-22 tires in place of the factory equipped size 245/75R16, and had not been recalibrated. The larger diameter tire would create a lower speedometer reading. The actual speed of the truck was 93mph. That is a fact, not an opinion or estimate. Wells purchased the truck in June 2019 from a private seller and obtained a 10 day temporary license plate from NC Department of Motor Vehicles. Wells was cited for driving an unregistered vehicle on 9/6/2019. On 10/9/2019, Wells was cited for speeding (80 in a 55), unregistered vehicle, uninspected vehicle and faulty speedometer. Following this traffic stop, Wells returned to NC DMV and purchased a second 10 day temporary license plate for the same vehicle, despite NC statute prohibiting this. The second 10 day temporary license plate was still on the truck 30 days later and the truck had still not been inspected since the June purchase. Imagine a world where a Marine serving in a military police Battalion can drive his personally owned, unregistered, uninspected vehicle through the gate of a military installation and park it in front of the base Police headquarters every day for over four months without hassle, plus, drive around the city and county of residence virtually uninhibited.

Mr. Maultsby stated that troopers were “not able to actually go inside the vehicle and search it for safety reasons”, therefore, “The search was done the next day. Morgan Patten’s license was recovered among other things.” This statement is bogus! The crash occurred at 10:46pm. The first police officer, Trooper Mike Jones arrived at 11:15. Upon learning that there was a fatality present, Trooper Jones declared it a crime scene and ordered the road blocked, although, two men, one identifying as Wells’ brother (Wells does not have a brother) were allowed into the scene. Other Troopers arrived at 11:35, 11:39, 11:46 and 12:24am, but the scene was never secured. No identification was found on Morgan’s body. She was tagged “Jane Doe”. Aside from the firearm and two mobile phones, nothing was collected as evidence from the crash scene. A mobile phone belonging to Charles Cornwall was never recovered from the scene because nobody looked for it. The shoes which had been on Morgan’s feet were pulled from a trash pile behind B and S Auto Body nearly eight months after the crash.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol Policy Manual states; “Vehicles involved in serious or fatal collisions should be secured as evidence if criminal charges are imminent or pending.” In this supposed thorough investigation, B and S Auto Body was called at 12:05am and told to “bring rakes and shovels and get this cleaned up by daylight”. The debris was literally raked and shoveled onto a truck and dumped in a pile against the tree line behind the B and S Auto Body facility. A process which began before Morgan’s body was even removed from the scene! As for the next day search, Andrew Motley, the tow truck operator for B and S Auto Body called Sgt. John Edwards, NCSHP to report that he had found a pink Nautica wallet wedged behind the rear seat of Wells’ truck while he was rummaging through it during the afternoon of November 9, 2019. At 4:15pm on November 9, 2019, Trooper Michael Kirk obtained a search warrant for Wells’ truck indicating that Morgan’s identification may be located in the vehicle. With this warrant, he drove to B and S Auto Body and took possession of the wallet from Andrew Motley. Somehow, the pink Nautica wallet appears in the Onslow County Sheriffs Office evidence log as being submitted at 1:40am on November 9, 2019, by Trooper Taylor Stokes, more than fourteen hours before it was retrieved. The next visit to the truck by investigators happened at 10am on November 12, 2019. Trooper Stokes and Trooper Matt Bryan photographed the remnants of the truck and conducted a vehicle examination, although key elements were skipped. The report shows that the front passenger side airbags had deployed but were not checked for contact trace simply because Wells, the drunk driver of the vehicle had told Trooper Stokes that the front passenger seat had been unoccupied. I believe this type of action is professionally defined as investigative bias, or confirmation bias. This occasion was also when a book was photographed inside the truck which was referenced by Mr. Maultsby during Wells’ sentencing hearing. He stated, “Judge, there also was a book recovered inside of the truck. C.J. Box, Off the Grid. In the discovery process, Mr. Silva did tell me that they actually have the book. The Highway Patrol took a picture of it and their evidence would have been that the book belonged to Ms. Patten.”
I can assure you with 100% confidence that the book referenced by Mr. Maultsby did not belong to Morgan Patten! Furthermore, this reference was the very first time Renee and I had heard any mention of a book in the truck that may or may not belong to our daughter. Morgan was an avid reader, as you have been informed. She traveled to Jacksonville on November 8, 2019 with a book titled Whiskey When We’re Dry, by John Larison. This book, marked on page 111 by a handwritten note from me and another from Renee, was in Morgan’s hotel room when we acquired her belongings on November 10, 2019. The video footage from the Baymont Suites from the night of November 8, 2019 clearly showed Morgan walking towards Applebees Grille and Bar with only her wallet in hand. The video footage, by the way, was described to us by ADA Caroline Fountain, OCSO Major Mark Scott, OCSO Detective Jonathan Marshburn and NCSHP First Sergeant John Edwards as being “too grainy and snowy” to even justify watching. Once we received a copy, we were stunned to see five hours of crystal clear footage in which Morgan was captured three separate times.
The next time Wells’ truck was visited by investigators was at 10:25am on November 26, 2019, eighteen days after the crash when Trooper Chad Harrington obtained a search warrant to recover the vehicle’s event data recorder, which revealed the speed of the vehicle as well as the fact that Mr. Wells, the driver, had made two evasive steering maneuvers after initially leaving the road surface, but never applied vehicle braking. When I questioned First Sergeant John Edwards about this oddity, his response was, “being from West Virginia, I’m assuming that he was familiar with off road driving and would know that in order to get out of a skid like that, you would have to be on the gas, not the brake”. That is some world class assuming from a seasoned investigator!
The NC State Highway Patrol Policy Manual also states; “A member assigned to a collision shall notify the supervisor on duty when one or more persons are killed or critically injured or when it appears likely that felony charges may arise as a result of the collision. If felony charges are likely the supervisor shall be responsible to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted, including the immediate notification of the Collision Reconstruction Unit as outlined in Directive L.03.”
I cannot count how many times Renee and I requested a crash reconstruction and were denied, only to learn that crash reconstruction is supposed to be standard operating procedure for NCSHP when handling a fatal crash. There is no North Carolina General Statute which requires police officers to investigate anything though; no requirement that Police actually do their job. With no oversight and no transparency, the Policy Manual may as well be printed on a roll of bathroom tissue!

Mr. Maultsby provided inaccurate statements during the sentencing hearing in regards to Morgan’s experience within Applebees, when the available evidence suggests something quite different. Mr. Maultsby stated that a meal ticket which was opened at 9:09pm on 11/08/19, consisting of a chicken Caesar salad and sweet tea, and which closed out at 9:59, may be Morgan’s ticket, eliminating the mystery of why her meal was unpaid at the end of the night, according to several witnesses. Mr. Maultsby stated, “ That’s just one of those facts that we’ll probably never know what actually happened. It’s just coincidental that it is the exact same time that the other two tickets conclude, we have this ticket concluding.” The many problems with his statement include; The meal ticket he described was paid for using a Visa debit or credit card that did not belong to Morgan. Both bartenders on duty stated that Morgan ordered a chicken Caesar salad and a beer. The video footage from the Baymont shows Morgan exiting her room at 7:05pm and walking towards Applebees, not 9pm, and Charles Cornwall paid for all of the food and alcohol consumed by he and Wells at 9:41pm, not 9:59pm as stated by Mr. Maultsby. Facts matter!

Mr. Maultsby claimed that Onslow County Sheriffs Office deputies conducted a download of Morgan’s phone and pieced together a timeline of events to the best of their ability utilizing her text message history. Mr. Maultsby read some of those messages during Wells’ sentencing hearing, even suggesting that a conversation between Morgan and Renee appeared to be a “typical mother/daughter squabble”, which was far from accurate. Following the sentencing hearing, we were able to obtain Morgan’s IPhone from the Onslow County Sheriffs Office. Upon returning to NH, the phone was delivered to a cybersecurity expert for additional analysis. The forensic download of Morgan’s phone did not reveal any information that would be considered a smoking gun, but did reveal interesting and disturbing facts. The forensic download conducted here in NH in April 2024 was THE FIRST forensic download conducted on the device. There was no evidence that investigators attempted to gain access to GPS history or any other available data contained within the device which could have been utilized to definitively determine an accurate timeline of events and locations. It is much too late to reveal evidence of this nature now as companies such as Google do not store this data for more than 180 days. The analyst was able to see all of the locations where Morgan’s phone connected to Wi-Fi on November 8, 2019, including Peter Pan Bus Lines, Logan Airport, American Airlines etc., the last two Wi-Fi connections being the Baymont Suites and Applebees Grille and Bar. Again, the work that was necessary to answer our questions was not done by investigators who had the ability to do so. Even more troublesome, NCSHP, OCSO and OCDA continue to hide all investigative files regarding the homicide of Morgan Patten which have not been deemed a matter of public record by Statute, despite the case having been “closed” and adjudicated. The process of Discovery allowed Hunter Wells and his family to access all investigative documentation, including Morgan’s private text messages, emails and her handwritten journal, which she traveled with to NC, yet the victim’s family has been denied equal access simply because the Law does not require transparency.

Mr. Maultsby mentioned the name Austin Ballard during the sentencing hearing. Austin Ballard was the roommate of Wells and Cornwall at 215 Richlands Avenue, Jacksonville. Mr. Ballard was also the last person to see and speak with Wells and Cornwall prior to their arrival at Applebees on November 8, 2019. Mr. Maultsby mentioned that Mr. Ballard was first interviewed by a private investigator hired by me. This is inaccurate. Though Renee and I have hired two private investigators since Morgan’s homicide, I was the first person to speak with Austin Ballard regarding the events of November 8, 2019. On the morning of January 13, 2023, I spoke with Mr. Ballard via telephone. I learned that investigators had not spoken with him in the three plus years since the crash. The information that Mr. Ballard told me was very similar to what Mr. Maultsby spoke of during the hearing, with a few major differences. When I asked Mr. Ballard when he last saw Wells and Cornwall, he stated that it was as they were leaving for Applebees on the evening of November 8, 2019. Wells and Cornwall invited him to join them for drinks but he declined. He told me that roughly three hours later, he recieved a call from Wells’ cousin, Bobby Dennis. Mr. Dennis told him that Wells had been in a crash and his whereabouts were unknown. At that time, Mr. Ballard told me that he drove to Applebees looking for Wells and/or his vehicle. Not finding either at Applebees or along the route, he returned home. Just as he arrived home, he received a second phone call from Bobby Dennis informing him that Wells was enroute to Naval Hospital aboard Camp Lejeune. Mr. Ballard then called the Platoon Sergeant for he, Wells and Cornwall, Sgt. Kezia Diaz, to inform her, then drove to Naval Hospital. When I questioned Mr. Ballard about the idea of Wells and Cornwall taking Morgan out to White Oak River Road to go shooting, he stated that the story sounded “odd” to him. As one of Wells’ best friends at the time, he had never been shooting with him, even during daylight hours. He had never known Wells or Cornwall to go shooting at night and was unfamiliar with White Oak River Road in Mayesville. Mr. Ballard told me that Wells had not told him what happened the night of the crash aside from stating that he had been driving fast and lost control when his truck hit a patch of loose gravel on the roadway. I reached out to Mr. Ballard one month later and asked if he was certain that Wells and Cornwall did not return to 215 Richlands Avenue in between their trip to Applebees and the time of the crash. He assured me that the last time he had seen or spoken with them was when they were leaving to go to Applebees.
I informed Mike Maultsby and Caroline Fountain of my interaction with Austin Ballard on March 31, 2023, and shared his contact information with them. When Mr. Ballard was contacted by Caroline Fountain, his story had changed to the version Mr. Maultsby shared with the Court, that Wells and Cornwall returned to their 215 Richlands Avenue house, retrieved a rifle and told him that there was a girl in the truck that they were taking to go shooting. Mr. Ballard’s story about receiving the call from Bobby Dennis and then driving to Applebees and back remained the same though, which is senseless. If Mr. Ballard knew that Wells and Cornwall were no longer at Applebees, why would he drive there looking for them?

In Mr. Maultsby’s description of the investigation, he said, “The Sheriff’s Office didn’t give up on it, in fact, they designated their most seasoned investigators to handle it.” I will not disagree that Major Mark Scott and Major Benji Foy are seasoned investigators, nor will I disagree that both played a role in this investigation, albeit small, but Mr. Maultsby’s assessment is fiction. The first detective assigned to Morgan’s homicide case was Jonathan Marshburn, on December 12, 2019. Renee and I met with Detective Marshburn on December 18, 2019. Detective Marshburn informed us that he had not been able to speak with Charles Cornwall yet because Cornwall was still in the Intensive Care Unit at Vidant Medical Center, where he was being treated for a Traumatic Brain Injury as a result of his skull being crushed between Wells’ truck and a fence post. Much later, we learned that Cornwall had been HOME for two weeks at that time, he had been diagnosed with a “concussion” at Vidant Medical Center, and, according to witnesses at the crash scene, had been conscious and alert during his extrication from the wreckage.
Detective Marshburn stopped communicating with me in January, 2020. In December of the same year, Detective Marshburn left his position at OCSO and closed Morgan’s homicide case as he left. In January 2021, ADA Caroline Fountain called Detective Matt Hipple, OCSO, and asked him to reopen the case, and as Detective Hipple told me, “wait for further instructions”. I asked ADA Fountain about her unique instructions and she responded by saying that Detective Hipple must have misunderstood, that he was free to investigate anything that he deemed worthy, and that she would immediately call him to clear up the matter. I spoke with Detective Hipple weeks prior to his departure from OCSO in May or June, 2022. He assured me that Caroline Fountain had not spoken to him in regards to Morgan’s homicide case since January, 2021, when she said “wait for further instructions”. Detective Hipple closed Morgan’s case as he left, as well. To my knowledge, within the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office, the case has remained closed since. Prior to his departure, though, Detective Hipple requested that the Jacksonville Police Department make a second attempt to unlock the IPhone which belonged to Hunter Wells. In April, 2022, this second attempt was successful, but nothing further was done with Wells’ phone or the data contained within until October 26, 2023. Wells’ freshly unlocked phone sat uninspected for more than seventeen months before anyone downloaded the contents! Then, in preparation for trial, Mr. Maultsby requested information about Hunter Wells’ phone and learned that it had been unlocked. Mr Maultsby immediately shared three items from Wells’ phone download with us, the text Wells sent to his wife stating that he was drunk prior to even entering Applebees, the 8:31pm entry of Morgan’s first name and cell phone number to his contact list and a photo of Wells, Cornwall and Morgan. Mr. Maultsby mentioned all three of these items during Wells’ sentencing hearing, though, only the first seems relevant to the facts supporting Felony Death by Vehicle. If Mr. Maultsby were to have shown the photo of Wells, Cornwall and Morgan in a trial setting, as evidence that the three were together in Wells’ truck at 10:31pm, even the worst of defense attorneys would have shredded this evidence! It is possible that the photo portrays a selfie taken in Wells’ truck; it is also possible that the photo was taken outside of Applebees, along the hedgerow between the restaurant and the Baymont Suites Hotel, any number of other outside locations or perhaps even AI generated! I have asked to see the original photo as downloaded from Wells’ phone. In response, I have been told that the screenshot of a screenshot that I received, the very same screenshot of a screenshot which was shown in the courtroom, is the “best that Sheriff’s Deputies could do.” I currently own and use the same model Apple IPhone that Hunter Wells did on November 8, 2019. I have not been able to duplicate the lack of quality displayed in the photo. Furthermore, Wells purchased a new phone following the crash and transferred account data utilizing his Apple ICloud login, allowing access to the photo in question. If the photo was as impactful to this case as Mr. Maultsby indicated, why was it not the defense attorney(s) bringing it forth at any point during the four years following the crash. For the reasons described within this body, and countless others that time will not allow me to mention here, I simply do not trust the word of investigators and prosecutors in Onslow County. I need the original photo in order to determine context.
In regards to Wells’ contact list, Mr. Maultsby did not mention in the courtroom that Morgan’s name, just her first name, were entered into Wells’ contact list three times, yet her phone number was only entered once. Morgan’s phone was not password protected. In a matter of seconds, anyone could retrieve the phone number from the device with it in their hands.

Mr. Maultsby described the vast difference between the blood alcohol concentration (.13) and vitreous humor alcohol concentration (.02) reported by Dr. Arcott in Morgan’s autopsy report, though he incorrectly stated that the vitreous humor was “blood from the eye”. He stated that Dr. Arcott would have testified that the aortic blood revealed a high ethanol concentration likely due to the severe damage done to Morgan’s internal organs.
On November 11, 2019, First Sergeant John Edwards told me, “If her bac comes back higher than .08, I’m going to assume that she got into that truck of her own free will.” First, this is an absolutely absurd statement for an investigator to make, and a clear example of victim shaming. Second, I was not concerned about her bac being higher than .08 because we already knew what Morgan had consumed for alcohol. On December 18, 2019, we were told that Morgan’s bac had been .13 and First Sergeant John Edwards, along with everyone else who touched this case “assumed” and stated openly that Morgan had consumed enough alcohol to allow her to make uncharacteristic decisions. In March, 2020, I received a copy of Dr. Arcott’s autopsy report. One of the first things I noticed and began to research was the vitreous humor alcohol concentration, reported at .02. During a meeting with DA Ernie Lee and ADA Caroline Fountain on May 29, 2020, I asked for an explanation of the vast difference between the two results. Caroline Fountain responded to my question with this statement; “I asked the Medical Examiner about this and she told me that there is something wonky about the results. So we’re going to have to assume that she was somewhere between a .02 and .13.”
Renee and I hired a forensic pathologist, Dr. Thomas Andrew to review Morgan’s autopsy, as “assumptions” and “wonky” are not sufficient. Dr. Andrew explained to us that femmeral blood is preferred to determine bac in post mortem cases, however, Morgan had exsanguinated in the ditch on White Oak River Road. The blood sampled by Dr. Arcott was from Morgan’s chest cavity, which contained all of her vital organs described as being “fragmented”, and also contained a portion of her small intestines. The autopsy was also performed fifty nine hours after Morgan’s death, which allowed the putrification, or, natural decomposition process to begin producing ethanol. For these reasons, Dr. Arcott also removed a vitreous humor sample during autopsy, which is a fluid within the human eye that remains well protected from foreign influences and putrification. Vitreous humor testing is widely considered the most accurate post mortem source when determining anti mortem alcohol consumption. As mentioned before, Morgan’s vitreous humor alcohol concentration was .02. Dr. Andrew explained that Morgan would have to have consumed a minimum of eight alcoholic drinks within the last hour of her life to have a blood alcohol concentration of .13. According to the autopsy results, Morgan had consumed very little liquid in the last hours of her life; her stomach contents were described to be “about 600cc of pasty food”.
In summary, Dr. Andrew determined that Morgan’s blood alcohol concentration was likely between .01 and .015
First Sergeant Jon Edwards spoke with investigators at Naval Criminal Investigative Service at some point, and stated that Morgan’s blood alcohol concentration was .20, meaning two and a half times greater than the legal limit to drive a vehicle! First Sergeant Edwards also spoke with Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Mike Groom at NC State Bureau of Investigations. Agent Groom called me on November 11, 2022 and informed me that First Sergeant Edwards had informed him that it is very typical for the vitreous humor alcohol concentration to be much higher than the blood alcohol concentration in post mortem testing due to the faster absorption rate of the vitreous humor. He informed me that he has great respect and admiration for First Sergeant Edwards' knowledge and professionalism. When I reminded Agent Groom that Morgan’s reported vac was significantly lower than her bac, he quickly stated that it simply “doesn’t matter” and that the investigation had been “very thorough”.

Mr. Maultsby spoke about Josh Thornton’s statement given to NC Alcohol Law Enforcement Officers. Mr. Thornton was a bartender working at Applebees on November 8, 2019, and he provided a written statement on November 10, 2019. Mr. Maultsby stated that Mr. Thornton served alcohol to Morgan that Cornwall purchased, and added, “he looked at her to see if she consented to the alcohol being purchased. He would have testified that he believed that she did, in fact, consent. She didn’t say no and that she, in fact, consumed the alcohol on site”.
Who was Mr. Maultsby trying to convict?
Mr. Maultsby also mentioned Jessica Brown, a server working at Applebees on November 8, 2019, who also helped out at the bar. Ms. Brown told a private investigator that she was the one who served the shots of Jack Daniels. Wells and Cornwall asked Morgan if she would do a shot with them and she said no. As they were trying to entice her to do so, Ms. Brown poured three shots of Jack Daniels, left them on the bar in front of the three patrons and walked away. She had no idea who consumed the shots. Investigators, conveniently, never spoke to Jessica Brown or asked Josh Thornton if Applebees attorneys had coached him prior to his statement.

I have described a few of many red flags and discrepancies within the Onslow County and North Carolina investigation of the homicide of Morgan Patten. As you read the real facts about what has happened in this case, I hope you can comprehend the intense frustration that Morgan’s supporters entered your Court with. I have not even mentioned the hurdles thrown at us by Second Marine Law Enforcement Batallion and the United States Marine Corps.

I have no legal education whatsoever. Prior to Morgan’s homicide, the only attorneys I had interacted with were managing real estate transactions or they are friends who happen to be members of the bar. I do not know what the term “ethics” means to an attorney, but to
me, it signifies the concept of what is morally right and wrong.
I do not know if Mr. Maultsby violated any attorney’s code of ethics with his performance before you on November 28, 2023, but, in my opinion, his actions were morally corrupt.
In the transcript of Hunter Wells’ sentencing hearing, nearly every word credited to Mike Maultsby, from page 29 through page 41 had absolutely nothing to do with providing evidence that Hunter Wells was guilty of committing Felony Death by Vehicle and Felony Serious injury by Vehicle. Much of Mr. Maultsby’s entire presentation prior to and beyond the aforementioned pages had absolutely zero relevance to the crimes which Hunter Wells was pleading to, yet, you allowed him to proceed. You allowed Mr. Maultsby to defend Hunter Wells from a crime that he was not even charged with when he said, “there is no evidence in this case that she was kidnapped. That’s the bottom line and it needs to be said, and I’m saying it right now.”
I am quite certain that the “dog and pony show”, as I’ll call it, was presented for the cameras and reporters attending the hearing, not for the Court. I am just as certain that you were aware of the spectacle which Mr. Maultsby intended to perform even prior to the onset. If there is/was any legal necessity, or even justification for this, please enlighten me. I believe that Mr. Maultsby hijacked the hearing as an opportunity to tell the media that the Onslow County District Attorney’s Office and all related investigative agencies went above and beyond the call of duty for Morgan Patten, while the facts are disgustingly contrary. His job was to provide evidence that Morgan Patten was in Hunter Wells’ vehicle on the night of November 8, 2019, that Hunter Wells was impaired and that Hunter Wells crashed that vehicle causing Morgan’s death, yet Mr. Maultsby denigrated my daughter in his effort to camouflage an investigation that was clearly incompetent, corrupt, or both, and you allowed him to do so while simultaneously stifling opposition from those who love and support Morgan Patten, those who knew that you were hearing distorted and extraneous information presented through a rose colored filter, proving that victims are very inconvenient to bureaucracy.

Hunter Wells stood in your Court and said the following words.
“I want to, foremost, apologize to the Patten family. I know I’ve caused them pain and suffering over the last four years. I haven’t answered to anything because I was advised to stay quiet.” He then went on to describe how his actions have hurt his own family, then circled back to say, “I wish it was me instead of her”, which may be the only statement he has uttered in four years that I could concur with. Mr. Wells concluded by saying that he did not expect Morgan’s family to accept his apology, but, “ I want them to know that I am sincerely sorry for what happened that night”.
As reward for his vapid performance, Mr. Wells received a mitigated sentence. As you rendered such, you stated, “Mr. Wells, only you and God know whether your apology was sincere”, then read aloud the terms of his sentence as previously negotiated by Counsel, adding, “And the Court is going to find that the defendant accepted responsibility for his criminal conduct by pleading guilty today,…”.
Hunter Wells pleaded guilty on two felony counts pursuant to Alford, which, by definition, means that he maintains his innocence but recognizes that there is enough evidence to convict. Accepting responsibility and pleading guilty persuant to Alford seem to be mutually exclusive actions, to my logic. I will remind you that Hunter Wells called his wife from the crash scene on November 8, 2019, on a phone borrowed from Tim Stroble, (also not interviewed by police) and told her that he had crashed into another vehicle, killing a female occupant. Hunter Wells told his roommate that he had lost control on some loose gravel. Hunter Wells told his long time friend, Brooke Osborne, (also not interviewed by police) that he had not been drinking and that Morgan “dumped” her fiancé to be with him on the night of November 8, 2019. Hunter Wells told his second wife and her family that his truck hydroplaned, causing the crash. Hunter Wells told investigators that he, Cornwall and Morgan were going shooting, but did not specify where. Mr. Maultsby stated during Wells’ sentencing hearing that residents of White Oak River Road have said that people shoot out there regularly, which is not an invalid statement. However, all of the residents Renee and I have spoken with said that neighbors will occasionally shoot in their respective backyards, similar to situations you would likely encounter in any rural American town. None have mentioned awareness of any location that would entice random strangers to White Oak River Road for a shooting experience, especially nearing 11pm in a residential zone. There is an expansive shooting range located near the end of White Oak River Road, which has since closed, but was never open to the public, did not allow night time access and had security personnel on sight. White Oak River Road leads directly to a main access point of Hofmann Forest, which is 79,000 acres of undeveloped land. Hofmann Forest, however, has a gated access point. It is not open to the public.
Hunter Wells told his own family that he was driving his truck around while Cornwall and Morgan “hooked up” in the rear seat. His family believes this story, still, despite logical and scientific evidence to the contrary. I understand that none of them had the liberty of knowing Morgan’s character, but nevertheless, if Morgan intended to “hook up” with Cornwall, Wells or both, for that matter, her hotel room was one hundred and twenty feet away from Applebees. There would be no sensible reason to climb aboard a truck filled with garbage (front and rear) to accomplish such a task. Furthermore, as Mr. Maultsby clarified during Wells’ sentencing hearing, the forensic analysis portion of Morgan’s autopsy indicated no evidence of sexual assault, including no foreign dna identified within the oral swab. Morgan had not so much as kissed Wells, Cornwall or anyone else.. The forensic analysis did uncover two foreign contributors to the dna retrieved from Morgan’s fingernails of her right hand, though, and we are currently working with a private laboratory, hoping to identify the contributors. Morgan’s pants were unzipped when she was found at the crash scene, and the crotch area of those pants were either ripped or cut open perpendicular to the zipper. We will also have those pants tested for foreign dna, as this was not done by investigators in their thorough investigation.
Hunter Wells has never accepted responsibility. Hunter Wells has never even murmured the truth about the events of November 8, 2019, or his level of involvement. His sentence provided closure to investigators and prosecutors yet circumvented justice for all. The ambiguity of this case is imposing and exhausting.

I deeply believe that Morgan Patten became a passenger in Hunter Wells’ truck on November 8, 2019, through means of abduction or coercion. I am very confident that none of the reasons that Hunter Wells has spoken of are based in truth. Charles Cornwall even told a private investigator that he does not believe the story of going shooting. Were it not for the crash on White Oak River Road, I feel that Morgan would likely have become a missing person. Overwhelming evidence acknowledges that Morgan Patten did not receive a professional and thorough investigation, which would have served justice and is every victim’s God given Right. Instead, the public search for truth has been influenced by inside forces that point towards corruption.
Renee and I, along with thousands of patrons feel strongly that Hunter Oneil Wells and Charles Edward Cornwall V got away with murder. I will not rest until undeniable evidence supports or negates these beliefs. Renee and I are also working with a private laboratory to conduct advanced substance testing in order to verify or eliminate any possibility that Morgan had been drugged. Mr. Maultsby dubiously stated that, “ no drugs were found in her system”, however, the procedure(s) conducted by the North Carolina Crime Laboratory eliminated less than ten percent of substances known to be prevalent in eastern NC.


I would like to take this opportunity to share one of many instances where NC Agencies have continued to inhibit worthwhile efforts.
Eight weeks ago I called the Raleigh, NC Office of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. I spoke to a pleasant woman who identified herself as Kelly, Executive Assistant to Colonel Freddie Johnson Jr. I requested a meeting with Colonel Johnson to discuss the policy deviations of First Sergeant John Edwards and other respondents to the crash on November 8, 2019. Kelly told me that she would speak to the Colonel and call me back on the next day. Seven days later, having not received a call, I called Kelly again. This time she told me that I would need to speak with the Office of Internal Affairs, to which I replied, “that will not be necessary, I would prefer to meet with Colonel Johnson”. Kelly told me that someone would call me back. Later that evening I received a call from Lieutenant Tim Wilson, NCSHP. Lt Wilson informed me that the case had been adjudicated, NCSHP had done everything within there power to ensure a felony conviction in the case, and, if I ever call NCSHP again, I will be charged with harassment. He was not as pleasant as Kelly!

In conclusion, please accept my apology for the lack of brevity in this correspondence. I have no expectation of response to my concerns; I only desire that you find a moment to wholly contemplate whether the North Carolina Judicial System displayed its best effort in the matter of NC V. Hunter Oneil Wells. Should you remain of the opinion that justice has been served, I hope you find peace. In Honor of Morgan Renee Patten, I hope you find courage to diverge from normalized complicity.

Respectfully,
Steven S Patten

Renee L Patten