On Monday September 15, 2025, investigators arrested 51 year old Michael James Moretz of Morganton on two counts of Felony Murder in connection with the deaths of Michael Curtis Hallyburton and Joseph Kincaid Byrd, Jr. There bodies were discovered in a house fire on Swink Street in Morganton on August 31st. It was later determined that Hallyburton and Byrd died of gunshot wounds.
No further detains are available at this time
Moretz was transported to the Magistrate’s Office, where he was held without bond. His first court appearance is
scheduled for September 18, 2025.
