Valerie Hamilton Update: Suspect Michael Harvey Makes First N.C. Court Appearance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CBS/WBTV) After spending two weeks in a New York jail, the convicted sex offender accused of killing Valerie Hamilton appeared in a Charlotte courtroom Wednesday afternoon.

PICTURES: Valerie Hamilton Murdered

Michael Harvey, 34, is facing murder charges in the death of the 23-year-old woman and was brought back to Charlotte late Tuesday night in order to appear in court.

At the hearing, Harvey was read all of the charges against him and was appointed an attorney; however, the New York native said very little during his six-minute appearance in the courtroom which had been entirely cleared except for media, attorneys, and courtroom officials, reports CBS affiliate WBTV.

Harvey's bond was set at $65,000 on non-murder charges and will most likely be updated following another court appearance Oct. 18.

The delay in Harvey's extradition following his Sept. 20 arrest was due to the fact that he was experiencing symptoms of severe drug withdrawal.

Although Harvey has admitted leaving the restaurant with Hamilton, he has maintained throughout the investigation that he did not kill her, and insists that she died of a drug overdose.

Chief Merl Hamilton spoke out after reports confirmed evidence of drug use in his daughter's death. "If I wasn't in law enforcement I would probably say he killed my daughter," he told WSOC in Charlotte, N.C. "But because I know killed means murder, you know, first degree murder, I don't know. I don't know enough about it to say that...I think if he wasn't with my daughter that night she would be alive."

Hamilton disappeared early Sept. 15 and her body was discovered four days later in a self storage unit, and Harvey was tracked down and arrested in upstate New York two days after the discovery.

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