NC - Kimberly Bland, 58, brutally murdered, car taken, Wilmington, Nov 2019 *friend arrested*

[aThousandYearsWide]

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington Police held a news conference to announce the identity of the woman found dead in an apartment and the arrest of a suspect in her murder.

Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said Kimberly Bland, 58, was reported missing on Thursday. Officers were sent to her home at Mill Creek and didn’t find anything unusual. When police responded to her home again on Friday afternoon, they went inside and found a body.

Evangelous said the medical examiner had requested they leave the body undisturbed until an autopsy could be performed, which took place on Tuesday.

Police have confirmed Bland was stabbed.

Police said early on in the investigation they were able to develop several suspects and had enough information and evidence on Andrew Boynton. Police say Boyton was arrested by a Fugitive Task Force in Richmond, Virginia on Friday after taking the victim’s car and leaving the state.
e is charged with murder and motor vehicle theft. Chief Evangelous confirmed Boynton and the victim were friends and coworkers for a number of years and may have been roommates at some point.

He is awaiting extradition to North Carolina.

Evangelous explains why identity information was delayed.

“We may have known possibly who it was, but because of the condition and I’m not going to get into it…. that’ll come out in court and you will understand why we couldn’t do that,” Evangelous said. “Number two there may have been some other suspects and it was important for us keep this wrapped up until we could run that other suspect or suspects down.”

Evangelous says it was critical for investigators to be able to catch them before they could prepare an alibi.

Mill Creek murder victim identified, suspect arrested in Virginia | WWAY TV

Other articles:
Murder suspect captured in Virginia for Wilmington woman’s death

Wilmington Star News

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Kim and Andrew were customers at my store. I didn't know her well but talked to her before and checked her out at the register multiple times. Everyone is very shook up by the news. She would shop with him often and they had been friends for years.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Recent article from Kim's friend Legare Simpson who had known her and the suspect for 15 years. She also adopted Kim's dog who had been sent to animal control prior, aw!

"According to Simpson, Bland was allowing Boynton to sleep on her couch at the time of her murder and, as part of his rent, he would help her clean.

“They bickered like brother and sister but I never in a million years thought this was the case,” Simpson said.

Online records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety indicate that Boynton has a criminal history consisting of prior convictions embezzlement, hit and run, and DWI."

‘All she did was try to help him’: Friend of murdered Wilmington woman speaks out about her, accused killer

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

Judge gives murder suspect no bond at first court appearance | WWAY TV

His next court date is Dec 5th.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Kimberly Bland was stabbed multiple times before she was found in her Mill Creek apartment.

Bland’s car was missing, along with her debit and credit cards. Wilmington Police say they have security photos of Andrew Boynton making withdrawals at multiple banks using Bland’s ATM cards.

Boynton, a friend of bland, was arrested in Virginia and is charged with first degree murder in her death. He is also charged with larceny of a motor vehicle. Boynton is being held in the New Hanover County Detention Center under no bond.

Warrants: Victim’s missing credit cards lead to murder suspect | WWAY TV

 

[JerseyGirl]

District Attorney working through backlog of 82 homicide cases pending trial

A two-and-a-half year hiatus on jury trials in North Carolina thanks to the pandemic created a backlog of homicide cases that District Attorney Ben David is doing his best to work through. Remarkably under the circumstances, the cases aren’t particularly old.

www.wect.com

Andrew Boyton is set to go to trial next month. He’s charged with first degree murder in the brutal stabbing of his roommate, Kim Bland, in 2019 at Mill Creek Apartments.