Bellevue triple-slaying suspect pleads not guilty

Craig Garber

Craig Garber, the man indicted in last September’s slaying of three family members in Bellevue, entered a not guilty plea at an arraignment hearing Wednesday morning.

Last month, a Davidson County grand jury indicted Garber on three counts of first-degree murder in the Sept. 2 killings of Jonathan Culpepper, 14, his mother Michelle Pinkowski, 48, and his grandmother Marylea Jordan, 71.

A 9-year-old girl was able to escape the family’s home on Beech Bend Drive and survive the killings, which occurred early on Sunday morning less than 24-hours after a concerned YMCA employee called police to check on Garber’s welfare.