Man formally charged in killing
Jul. 1—HIGH POINT — The mother of the man charged with killing a High Point University student in an apartment a week and a half ago sobbed after a court hearing Wednesday afternoon, saying the crime he's accused of committing is out of character for him.
Patricia McCaskill of Fayetteville came to High Point for the first-appearance hearing for her son, Michael Louis Cadogan, 24. He is charged in the death of Gianna Rose Delgado, 19, who police say was strangled June 21 in her north High Point apartment.
High Point investigators say the homicide stemmed from a domestic dispute.
Following the brief hearing in a third-floor courtroom in the Guilford County Courthouse, McCaskill fought back tears as she told reporters that she doesn't understand what's happened with her son.
McCaskill said she hasn't been able to talk to Cadogan since his arrest and hopes he'll get a mental health evaluation.
The slain young woman's father, Ricardo Delgado, also attended the hearing. He declined to comment to The High Point Enterprise following the hearing but has previously said publicly that he and his family are devastated by the killing of his daughter and that she had a promising life that was unjustly cut short.
Delgado sat near the front of the courtroom, while McCaskill and members of her family sat at the rear.
Guilford County District Court Judge Marc Tyrey ordered that Cadogan continue to be held with no bond allowed. Cadogan is charged with first-degree murder and felony concealment of death.
Cadogan appeared at the hearing through closed-circuit TV from the Guilford County Jail in High Point. He listened as Tyrey appointed a capital case public defender to represent Cadogan and set the next hearing in the case for Aug. 20. Tyrey appointed a capital case public defender because the first-degree murder charge carries the possibility of the death penalty, though local prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue that.
Court officials said their review found that Cadogan has no prior criminal convictions.
Cadogan was extradited to High Point on Tuesday from Carter County, Tennessee, where he was arrested last week.
Investigators say Cadogan drove from High Point with Delgado's body in a tote in the vehicle. Cadogan reportedly contacted a woman whom he met online, said he killed his girlfriend in an argument about another man and asked for help disposing of the body and car.
Instead of helping Cadogan, the woman contacted law enforcement in eastern Tennessee. Carter County Sheriff's Office deputies stopped Cadogan in the area of Kingsport.
pjohnson@hpenews.com — 336-888-3528 — @HPEpaul
