William Bernicki was accused of shooting Brittany Fullwood in 2017

WILMINGTON -- A Lumberton man was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder for the 2017 killing of a woman in Monkey Junction.

William Patrick Bernicki, 50, was accused of shooting and killing Brittany Ann Fullwood, 34, in 2017 inside her home at 5229 Woods Edge Drive. In addition to murder, he was also convicted of felony breaking and entering. Bernicki was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The jury began deliberations just after noon. New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David said it took jurors just 29 minutes to reach a verdict.

David summarized prosecutors' case against Bernicki Thursday, telling jurors that Fullwood's and Bernicki's paths crossed as a result of her struggles with addiction.

Fullwood, he said, had been to rehab 13 times to detox from heroin. David said that addiction pushed her into sex work, and she met Bernicki an a client. The two had a relationship, but split up some time before the murder.

"Perhaps the deadliest thing about this drug is who it brings into your world," David said, pointing to Bernicki. "The wolf at the door that is even more deadly than that drug is sitting 25 feet from you."

The murder

Just after 2 p.m. on April 25, 2017, Fullwood was at home with two men, one of whom David identified as her boyfriend, Charles Herzig, and her 3-year-old son Dustin. Herzig left the house, and the other man tended to Dustin as they prepared for the boy's birthday party, supposed to happen that day.

At 2:08 p.m., Herzig texted Fullwood from his car, alerting her that he saw Bernicki approaching her house in a van. At 2:10 p.m., Herzig called Fullwood, and she allegedly told him, "Will has a gun."

David said what followed was a rush by Fullwood to lock the front door and a scramble to the open garage door. She reached that door too late, David said, as a shotgun blast issued through it, breaking her arm. David said that Bernicki entered and shot her four more times -- in the head and abdomen.

But defense attorney Brett Wentz argued that prosecutors could not prove that someone else did not shoot Fullwood. Herzig and the other man at the house that day testified to finding Bernicki and Fullwood after the shooting and alerting authorities. Wentz noted that the shotgun was not tested for fingerprints or DNA by law enforcement, and suggested Herzig's print might have been found on it if it was.

"Out of 17 witnesses, not one of them saw Mr. Bernicki shoot anyone," he said. "Don't let emotions decide this case."

Bernicki attempted suicide moments after the alleged crime. David said that pellets from the shotgun shells found in Fullwood's and Benicki's bodies matched more shells found in Bernicki's car.

"These are silent witnesses screaming the truth that he did it," David said.

Bernicki, who has been incarcerated at Raleigh's Central Prison due to their larger medical facility, sat in the courtroom Thursday, the left half of his face medically reconstructed and his left eye missing from the shotgun blast.

Parents react

In a news conference after the verdict, Brittany's parents Chris and Raymond Fullwood said they were relieved to see Bernicki get the maximum sentence.

But they are still without their daughter.

"The whole family misses Brittany terribly. There's not a day goes by that I don't think about her," Chris said. "There's triggers all over the place. Like her favorite restaurant I'll pass by, and tears just start rolling. And different things we used to do, like go to Lewis Farms and pick strawberries."

Raymond noted that the family lost two people after the murder -- Brittany's son Dustin, now 4, was placed with non-blood-related family and has since been adopted. He said the family plans to keep pushing to be a part of the boy's life.

"The last thing Brittany would have wanted was for him to be wiped out of my life," Raymond said. "She named him after me."

Reporter Cammie Bellamy can be reached at Cammie.Bellamy@StarNewsOnline.com.

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