GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Only Channel 9 was in the courtroom on Friday when a man accused of killing his wife with eyedrops, setting a helicopter on fire, and staging his own kidnapping, asked a judge to move his trial out of Gaston County.
His attorney claims the case has gained too much attention since 2018.
Gaston County reporter Ken Lemon learned about the prosecutors’ evidence that could hurt the attorney’s request. The judge ruled that Channel 9 couldn’t air the audio from the hearing.
Lemon reported that the defense attorney put up 14 documents as evidence, claiming media coverage would bias a jury pool.
Moments after Josh Hunsucker stepped into court, his attorney, David Teddy, told the judge that in 38 years as an attorney, he had never seen this much media coverage on a case.
He then pulled out the documents, including pages and pages of online coverage from local newspapers and television stations, major networks, Court TV, and even the Washington Post.
Teddy introduced statements from other defense attorneys who said Hunsucker can’t get a fair trial with jurors from Gaston County.
Prosecutors said Teddy is conflating news coverage with prejudice.
They said in another case, the Supreme Court ruled that it is wrong.
The judge then read some of the headlines, including one from wsoctv.com, and stated that the headlines are factual.
She pointed out that some of the stories entered in evidence were published before another judge denied a change of venue motion in 2021.
She will review the information presented and render a decision later.
Prosecutors noted that it is interesting that the defense asked for a change of venue when Hunsucker’s mother and sister reportedly met with producers from ABC News and shared information with them.
The judge entered a gag order for them and defense witnesses.
There is already a gag order for the family of his deceased wife, Stacy, and prosecution witnesses.
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
