The "Dungeons & Dragons" Murder of Lieth Von Stein

Lieth Von Stein

On this day in 1988, Bonnie and Lieth Von Stein, of Washington, North Carolina, were stabbed and bludgeoned while sleeping in their bed. While Lieth died during the attack, Bonnie survived even though she was badly wounded and maimed. Bonnie's daughter Angela, whose bedroom was in another part of the house, slept through the attack. Angela's older brother, Chris Pritchard, told police that he had been playing cards all night in his North Carolina State University dorm room.

After the police learned that Lieth Von Stein's estate was worth over just $2 Million, Angela and Chris soon became suspects, along with Bonnie even though she was beaten and stabbed to the point of almost dying. Bonnie and Angela were cleared after passing lie detector tests. Chris refused to take the test, and it was that refusal along with the fact that he had never gotten along with his stepfather, Lieth, that made him the main suspect. Detectives also uncovered Chris Pritchard's heavy LSD use and his obsession with playing Dungeons & Dragons. They also made a break in the case when a hog farmer reported a fire in the woods on the night of the murder. When the area was searched, police found a hunting knife, some clothing, and a scrap of paper with a map of the Von Stein’s house and neighborhood.

Detectives finally got a confession when they interrogated Chris Pritchard's friend and fellow UNC student, Neal Henderson. He quickly cracked and told them that he and Chris had driven another UNC student, James Upchurch, to the Von Stein home. Pritchard had provided Upchurch with a key and a map to the house. Upchurch had agreed to murder Bonnie and Lieth Von Stein for a piece of Pritchard's inheritance. Of course, no inheritance would be granted due to Bonnie surviving the attack.

When the three conspirators went on trial in 1990, prosecutors and journalists implied that the murder of Lieth Von Stein was just another Dungeons & Dragons quest for them. It was reported that the three men had spent time engaging in live-action Dungeons & Dragons sessions with real weapons in the steam tunnels under the UNC campus. At the time, D&D was a hot topic tied to the era's "Satanic Panic".

Pritchard and Henderson ended up testifying against Upchurch in exchange for life sentences with the possibility of parole. Henderson was paroled in 2000 and Pritchard was paroled in 2007. According to sources he has reconciled with his mother, Bonnie, and now lives as a born-again Christian. Upchurch, who insisted that he was innocent, was convicted of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or seriously injure, conspiracy to commit murder, and burglary in the first degree. His initial death sentence was later commuted to life and he will be eligible for parole in 2022.

The sensational case and subsequent trial inspired two true crime novels, Cruel Doubt by Joe McGinniss and Blood Games by Jerry Bledsoe. Both books were adapted into tv movies that emphasized the Dungeons & Dragons angle of the case and James Upchurch's influence and power as a "Dungeon Master".

Related Reading:

The Blood on the Bedroom Ceiling


Two Very Different Tellings of the Same Crime


Pritchard to be Paroled