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Four Residents of Watauga County Charged With Thursday-Morning Murder of Iredell County Man in Bethel

By Jesse Wood

Jan. 15, 2015. Four residents of Watauga County were each charged with one count of murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection to the Thursday morning homicide on Smith Henson Road in Bethel.

William David Cable, Jr., 34, of 231 Smith Henson Road in Bethel; Travis Lane Ward, 29, of 954 U.S. 321 North in Vilas; Candice Rogers, 26, of 231 Smith Henson Road in Bethel; and Jessica Lynne Oakes, 28, of 167 Bryant Combs Road in Sugar Grove, are all being held without bond until a Feb. 19 appearance in Watauga County Superior Court.

The victim was Brandon Lee Byrd, 32, of Iredell County. Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman said he died at the scene.

At 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, Watauga County 911 Communications received a call that a white male had a gunshot wound near the 200 block of Smith Henson Road in Bethel. Hagaman said that Byrd died just before the call came in.

Investigators with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office initially interviewed five individuals, and following the direction and consultation of the District Attorney Seth Banks, the two males and two females were charged with murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

As for the robbery charge, Hagaman said that “a search warrant has been applied for” a nearby building and investigators are searching for narcotics.

Hagaman said that more details would be released possibly later tonight.

Below are mugshots of those charged and a map of where the murder took place.

Rogers
Rogers
Ward
Ward
Cable
Cable
Oakes
Oakes

See map of where incident took place below.

Smith Henson Road
Note that the red arrow, which is pointing to Smith Henson Road, isn’t the exact location of alleged murder.