Cape Cod's Lampley Murder: Sweet Potato, 'The Wire', Not Guilty Plea

BARNSTABLE, MA — The man charged with the 2011 murder of Hyannis man Todd Lampley pleaded not guilty to the charge at an arraignment hearing on Monday.

Though that wasn't surprising, there was certainly new information unveiled that could be considered interesting and, perhaps, a bit bizarre.

Chief amongst that information is the involvement of a sweet potato and a cell phone belonging to Marlo Stanfield, who is a fictional character in the monumental HBO series "The Wire".

Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois announced that Devarus Hampton, 40, of Mashpee, was charged on Feb. 24 with murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for the 2011 homicide of Todd Lampley, then 31, of Hyannis.

On Feb. 27, 2011, Barnstable Police officers were dispatched to 42 Fresh Holes Rd. in Hyannis for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found Lampley unconscious, bleeding, and suffering from gunshot wounds in a bedroom at the residence.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The new charges stem from an investigation conducted by Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office and Barnstable Police Department, the DA's Office said.

At the arraignment on Monday, prosecutors said shell casings and the cell phone were found at the scene, as was a sweet potato.

The starch is important in making sense of why the cell phone was linked to Marlo Stanfield, as prosecutors said that a sweet potato was used as a silencer on the show.

Though those details are perhaps the most striking, perhaps the most damning is what the state said is evidence that Hampton was at the scene at the time of the shooting.

According to the Cape Cod Times, court documents said that Hampton was wearing a GPS monitor in 2011 as a result of a previous crime. That tracking device, the court documents said, place him at the 42 Fresh Holes Rd. location at the time of the shooting.