The oldest prisoner on North Carolina's death row has died.
N.C. Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree says 83-year-old inmate John Fleming died Sunday of natural causes.
Fleming was sentenced to death in Northampton County for the May 1996 murder of Genie Pelham of Pleasant Hill. Fleming was convicted of breaking into Pelham's home and beating the victim on his head, then strangling him to death.
A decision from the state Supreme Court in 1999 says Pelham didn't approve of Fleming dating his daughter. It also says that Pelham was supposed to testify against Fleming for writing checks on his bank account without his permission.
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