Roxboro man arrested for murder after woman found dead outside Orange County home

HURDLE MILLS, N.C. (WNCN) – A Roxboro man was arrested Thursday and charged with murder more than a week after a woman was found dead in her front yard, according to a press release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Wade Parnell, 58, is being held at the Orange County Detention Center on no bond. He is charged with murder and three counts of violating a domestic violence protective order, the release said.

On Sept. 8, Anne H. Kirkpatrick was found by an off-duty deputy dead in her front yard along the 2500 block of Brown Road in Hurdle Mills.

“Investigators believe she died three or four hours prior to being discovered,” the release said.

Investigators said Parnell was one of two people for whom Kirkpatrick had an active domestic violence protective order. The order cited conduct by Parnell on July 17 in which he “became angry when he thought Kirkpatrick looked at another man in a restaurant,” the release said.

After they left the restaurant, Parnell was said to have grabbed Kirkpatrick by the wrist and neck. She was frightened to the point of jumping out of the vehicle and getting into a stranger’s vehicle to escape, the release said.

The second domestic violence protective order was for Kirkpatrick’s husband. The two had separated, the release said.

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said both men had alibis. Parnell cooperated with the investigation by submitting to interviews and allowing searches of his home and vehicle, the release said.

Investigators, while swearing out search warrants and obtaining evidence requiring further analysis, learned of inconsistencies in Parnell’s account.

“It is a well-known fact that most murders are committed by someone the victim knows,” said Blackwood. “Parnell was always high on our suspect list, but we had to wait for the evidence to prove it.”

Parnell will make his first court appearance Friday at 2 p.m.