Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Staunton, VA: Warrant reveals new info in strangling death



By Brad Zinn/staff
bzinn@newsleader.com

STAUNTON — A man suspected in the strangling death of a Staunton woman told authorities he killed the woman in his yard, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday in Augusta County Circuit Court.

Timothy A. Wilkins, 39, of 15 Lismore Lane, Churchville, was arrested late Friday night in the parking lot of the Verona Food Lion on Laurel Hill Road after the Augusta County sheriff’s office received a report of an intoxicated man at the supermarket. The body of Misty Phillips, 36, was discovered in the back of Wikins’ 1998 Toyota 4 Runner, and was partially covered with a canvas tarp, the sheriff’s office said.

According to the search warrant, Wilkins, charged with first-degree murder, admitted strangling his girlfriend.

“Wilkins stated ... that the death happened around dark a couple of days ago,” the warrant said.

Authorities confiscated a handwritten note, a woman’s handbag and an ABC store receipt, according to the search warrant.

Wilkins, who appeared Monday in Augusta County General District Court for a bond hearing wearing a suicide smock for inmates considered a suicide risk, is being held without bond at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hope he gets life with no possibility of parole! I hope he thinks about what he did every day for the rest of his miserable life.