Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mild mannered middle school principal has blood on his shirt same day his wife found shot dead: COINCIDENCE OR MURDER?

Episode Date: September 24, 2019

A former South Carolina principal reports his wife missing. Just one hour later, Karen Yarborough is found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. Nancy Grace is joined by panel of experts to discuss the case. With us today: Ashley Wilcott, Judge and trial attorney ; Dr Katherine Maloney, Nickle City Forensics; John Cardillo, Former NYPD ; Dr Daniel Bober, Forensic Psychiatrist; and reporter John Lemley. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Somerville 911, what's the location of your emergency? I'm trying to find my wife. You're trying to find your wife? Yes. I was up sleeping, and when I was born, she was not here. It's not normal. It's not normal for her.

Do you know what direction she usually walks in? I know exactly. I already rode the whole area. You are hearing the voice of a high school principal who suddenly realizes his wife is gone. That's the 911 call. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. We're trying to glean any information we can. Did I hear him correctly? With me, John Limley, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com,

to say he was upstairs asleep, came back down, and she was gone. Was that correct? Did I hear that? Correct, and stating the obvious. It's hard to understand him. He said he was sleeping. It's not normal for her to be gone. And he had already driven around. He said, I already rode around, meaning he had driven her usual route for walking. You know, for a high school principal, A, that's a grammar felony, but I'm more concerned about the wife right now.

With me, an all-star panel to break it down, put it back together again joining me a renowned pathologist the deputy chief medical examiner in buffalo dr katherine maloney john cardillo former nypd forensic psychiatrist joining me out of the florida jurisdiction dr daniel bober ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer. You can find her at AshleyWilcott.com. Well, you know, right off the bat, Ashley Wilcott, I got a little problem because there's a bullet hole in the floor of the bedroom. Now, I'm just assuming he was taking a nap in the bedroom. He didn't hear a gun go off. And if there was a gunfire in the bedroom where is she yeah and the

best part of that nancy is he said oh i don't know why there's a bullet hole i don't know and i don't have a gun on top of that let me suggest this that most spouses when they live in the same house if one of them goes out especially the female a female goes out to take a walk at night, generally the other spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever lives in the house with them doesn't just go to sleep, but rather kind of pays attention, listens to make sure they hear them come back in. Now, hold on. Hold your horses, Ashley Wilcott. I think you're correct in many occasions, but sometimes I never know if my husband, David, is in or out unless I hear the ring sound on my cell phone. It sounds like Bewitched casting a spell.

Like, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. And I go, well, there goes David. Okay. So if I didn't have the ring, what I really like to do is speak to him through the phone. It kind of always scares him. And I can watch him. It's very curious what you're bringing up. Dr. Catherine Maloney with me, John Cardillo, Dr. Daniel Bober, John Limley with CrimeOnline.com. John,

let me understand. He didn't know where the bullet came from, the bullet hole in his bedroom floor. Is that where he's supposed to be taking a nap? And why is he taking a nap at night? If he waited 45 minutes, he could go to sleep. Well, he says he doesn't even own a gun and has no earthly idea why a bullet would even be on the bedroom floor, let alone a hole in the floor next to the bullet. And as for sleeping, your guess is as good as mine. No one has explained that so much. Maybe he was just down for the night, but he did make it sound like he was taking a nap. Well, it didn't take long for others to do what James Yarborough, the principal, could not do. Listen. The coroner tells us that that woman found is Karen Yarborough from Somerville, who had gone missing at this time.

It's not clear how long she had gone missing for, but I did reach out to the corner to ask him about that. We also have learned that she's expected to have an autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina, and deputies tell us that she is an apparent victim of a homicide.

They actually got a tip. They actually got a tip. Deputies got a tip that there was a body found here on Harrison Road, and from there they came out here, and this scene has been active. Deputies and canines have been coming in and out all day long. This is actually off of a gravel road, and this area is surrounded by woods. Now we are still waiting to learn how exactly Ms. Yarborough ended up here in the town of Dorchester. In the town of Dorchester, back to you, John Lumley, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com. The town of Dorchester, where is that in relation to the high school principal, James Yarborough, and his wife, Karen's home?

They lived in Somerville, South Carolina. Karen was a business manager in Charleston, about 25 miles southeast. That'll give you a better idea of the region we're talking about in South Carolina. And where she was found, where her body was found, was right on the edge of a protected Audubon wildlife preserve called the Beadler Forest. Take a listen to our friends at WCBD. This is Taylor Murray. Police are investigating this as a murder after a woman was found dead earlier today in rural Dorchester County. And this is an ongoing investigation, but here is what we know now. A DOCTOR WAS FOUND DEAD EARLIER TODAY IN RURAL DORCHESTER COUNTY. AND THIS IS AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION. BUT HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW NOW. EARLIER TODAY, THE

DORCHESTER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE RECEIVED A REPORT ABOUT A BODY NEAR THE BEIDLER FOREST ALONG HARRISON ROAD IN DORCHESTER. THE DORCHESTER COUNTY CORONER LATER IDENTIFIED THE BODY AS A MISSING SUMMERVILLE WOMAN, 63-YEAR-OLD

KAREN YARBOROUGH. ADDITIONAL DETAILS ARE STILL LIMIT AT THIS TIME, BUT THE SUMMERVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT DORCHESTER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAID as a missing Somerville woman, 63-year-old Karen Yarborough. Additional details are still limited at this time, but the Somerville Police Department, Dorchester County Sheriff's Office, and the Dorchester County Coroner's Office are investigating this together. And we're told that an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday morning at MUSC.

John Limley, CrimeOnline.com. What do we know about the COD cause of death? Well, the Dorchester County Coroner's Office says that it was obvious that this is a homicide. And the autopsy has revealed we have just the basics of the autopsy report at this point, the full thing still to come. The autopsy revealed that she died from a gunshot to the head. Joining me, as I mentioned, Dr. Catherine Maloney out of New York and forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Bober. I've got so many questions running through my mind right now to Dr. Catherine Maloney. Why is it they take one look at the body and they immediately say this is a homicide? Well, I mean, that would be based on the circumstances of the scene

investigation. At times, when performing an autopsy, you can get information about the range of fire. So if this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, you might expect to see certain characteristics of the wound that would let you know that the gun was held closer to the head, which we often see in a self-inflicted gunshot wound versus a wound from a distance where there wouldn't be those findings. So there may have been findings like that, that the forensic pathologist saw. Or to John Cardillo, former NYPD, he's been around the block once or twice in New York. It may be as simple as you see that the back of her head is blown out with a gun. And you know that she could not possibly maneuver a weapon to shoot herself in the back of the head, right?

Nancy, yeah, you could look at a body. And if there's no stippling, if there's no powder burns, and of course if the round entered from the back of the head, then you're going to rule out suicide pretty quickly. And you're're going to run erring on the side of safety on the premise that it was a homicide and i but i get to dr daniel bober who is an md as well as a psychiatrist dr daniel bober i hear what dr katherine maloney is saying sometimes you see a body you see a body, you find a body, say in their apartment, and it looks like the person's asleep. You don't see any trauma. You don't see any marks around the neck. You don't see a stab wound, a gunshot. And once you've seen a gunshot, you know what a gunshot looks like. Now, of course, there's the opportunity to be shot with like say a 22 which leaves a

little you know uh it's almost like it's nothing depending on where you're shot but typically with a gunshot wound you know it's a gunshot wound Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the murder of a beautiful mom, Karen Yarborough, a business executive as well. To Dr. Daniel Bober, Dr. Bober, clearly this was not her regular walking path. So what this says to me at the very outset is that's not where the murder occurred. She was taken there. That's not where she normally walks. Say I go for a walk and then, no, I don't want to pretend I'm dead. Let's say Ashley Wilcott goes for a walk. Okay. I'll let her die. Ashley Wilcott goes for a walk and then suddenly her body's found five miles away at the bottom of a ravine

and she's been shot. Okay. What that tells me right there, she was not killed on her normal walk. I don't know if she ever was on a normal walk and she was murdered. Okay, when the body is found, when Ashley's found, there's not a gun there. If this had been suicide, the weapon would still be there. So it tells me she was not killed on her normal walk, Ashley was taken somewhere and dumped. Sorry, Ashley. So, Bober, what does this scenario tell you about Karen Yarborough's death? Obviously that she was not, you know, within her comfort zone in her geographical area, that her body was moved from her, from that location where the actual murder occurred and dumped. You know, another issue, Ashley, you're alive again. With me, judge, trial lawyer, Ashley Wilcott at AshleyWilcott.com. Ashley, another issue is this was about 20 miles away from her home.

Okay? Again, the weapon was not found with her. She's got what we think is a single gunshot wound. Weigh in, Ashley. So it is exactly, you know, the first place they look when they investigate is the crime scene, which is where the body is located. So the distance from the house is an issue if, in fact, the husband were to believe that she had, quote unquote, gone out on a walk. But add to that, because you have a secondary crime scene But add to that because you have a secondary crime scene right of her house because you have a bullet, a hole in the ground, then or

a hole in the floor rather. You put those two things together and it doesn't add up. This woman has been murdered and dumped. Are we connecting the dots too soon? How would someone in a home not know a gun had been fired right there in their own bedroom? Take a listen to our friends at WCSC. Police went to Yarbrough's house to talk to him. They saw some things that didn't add up. They saw bloodstains on his shirt. Yarbrough told them it was an old shirt and that he was taking blood thinners. They also found Karen Yarbrough's purse with her cell phone in it. Cops also found a bullet in the master bedroom. Yarbrough told them he did not own a gun.

A few hours later, someone found Karen Yarbrough's body near the Beadler Forest in Dorchester County. James Yarbrough was taken into custody and charged with murder, obstruction of justice, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. Gosh, that don't make sense. Bill Blevins owns the Tasty Freeze restaurant across from Somerville High School, where Yarbrough was principal from 1994 through 1998. Blevins says Yarbrough used to come there on a regular basis. He was surprised to hear about his arrest.

Seems like a super-dodge bed. So I don't understand. Police are still trying to determine what led to the murder. That's Harv Jacobs there at WCSC. The ripple effect of a high school principal, a mild-mannered high school principal, potentially being involved in his wife's murder. The ripples go on. Take a listen to WCSC. A former principal at Somerville High has been

charged with killing his wife. Somerville police arrested James Yarborough in the death of his wife, Karen Yarborough. James Yarborough charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and obstruction of justice. Karen Yarborough's body was found near the Beidler National Forest in Dorchester County. Somerville police went to Yarborough's home to investigate his wife's disappearance. James Yarborough reportedly told officers his wife said she was going for a walk about a Monday night. Straight out to Dr. Catherine Maloney, the deputy chief medical examiner in Buffalo. Again, Dr. Maloney, thank you for being with us. All police reports, all news accounts state that her body was dumped, which gives me a big clue.

Karen's body was found dumped in a wooded area about 20 miles from home, Dorchester County, South Carolina. How can you look at a body, Dr. Maloney, and tell it's been dumped as opposed to that's where the crime occurred or they fell and died or they fell and died of natural causes? Why do they all say they could look at the body and tell it was dumped? Well, in this case, I'm guessing it's because at the scene where they found her, there probably wasn't the blood that they'd expect to see. So if this is where the crime was committed or where she was shot, then you would expect to see a lot of blood there from the bleeding from the gunshot wound. And there probably wasn't any blood there. Also, this is 20 miles from her home. So it's not like she was going out for a leisurely 20-mile walk in the middle of the evening.

She's very far from her house, so she was brought there. If there's no vehicle there, then how did she get there? I mean, unless she's a marathon runner, presumably she didn't run there and then suddenly die of natural causes. So I think the logical assumption is that someone brought the body there and dumped it there. You know, on the 911 call to Dr. Daniel Bober, Dr. Bober, what do you make of his demeanor on the phone? Well, you know, he seemed a little bit too calm and collected for someone whose wife has been missing. But, you know, again, you can't draw,

always draw firm conclusions from that. But he sounds like almost flat, I would say, and didn't seem like it was really consistent or congruent with the context of what was going on. To Ashley Wilcott, it seems to me he's setting up that she committed suicide because he tells cops, you know, after they come to speak to him, guys with me, Ashley Wilcott, judge and trial

lawyer, and you can find her at ashleywilcott.com. He says she's been depressed, that he got ready for bed and went to bed at eight o'clock, that she was depressed and went for a walk. You know, if my husband, first of all, said he was depressed right there, you know, I'd have to call his family. David is not the kind of person that says, I'm depressed. I don't think I've ever heard him say that in his whole life. He, no. And plus, if he did say, I'm depressed, I'm going for a walk in the dark, I would try to keep him from going. I would say, look, let me make you a cup of coffee. You know, let's just go sit outside and talk. Or I would not, somebody say I me make you a cup of coffee. You know, let's just go sit outside and talk. Or I would not, somebody say I'm depressed and they go for a walk in the dark. That would

concern me, Ashley, but that is what he told police. Yeah, that is what he told police. But frankly, his entire story didn't make much sense by the end of it. However, having said that, that's what I meant. I think I'll circle back to when you have a spouse or someone you live with, and especially like you point out, Nancy, when they say they're depressed and it's dark and they're going for a walk, I don't believe that you're just going to, okay, go to bed, fall asleep, and then all of a sudden realize, oh, yeah, my wife is missing. It's too suspicious because you would take different steps if you knew they were depressed or going through things. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Somerville 911, what's the location of your emergency? I'm trying to find my wife. You're trying to find your wife? Yes.

I was up sleeping and when the broker was going, she was not here. It's not normal. It's not normal for her. Do you know what direction she usually walks in? I know exactly. I already rode the whole area. You are hearing the voice of a high school principal who suddenly realizes his wife is gone. That's the 911 call. Did you notice, Ashley, I mean, yes, we're trial lawyers. You're a judge as well. I'm just a lay person, but his speech, he sounded slurred on the phone call. It was hard to understand him.

Yeah, he definitely sounded out of it. And I did notice that because, again, if I thought my spouse were really missing, I would be panicked, upset, crying, freaked out, something other than a— it's almost like he's asleep still or I don't know why slurring his speech, but something sounds off. How did these two meet? What's their history? Take a listen to our friend Brody Hart at WCID. Most people liked them. Flipping through time.

She always had a smile on her face. She was just the sweetest girl. Ken Bowman's reminded of the years spent with Stan and Karen Yarbrough. Got a lot of memories in there, huh? Yeah. He says all three of them were high school classmates and have been neighbors the last several years. Stan and Karen were just typical high school students when I knew them and we hate that this has happened and we hate what Stan's going to have to go through if he is found guilty. Police charged Stan Yarborough with the murder of his wife Karen on Tuesday. Several neighbors say they've heard the couple arguing

but Ken says he never saw anything out of the ordinary. I had never heard of any problem with the two of them at all. There's nothing we can do for Karen anymore. Hardly anything we can do for Stan, but there are things we can do for their family members. To John Limley, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what do you know about their relationship? Well, they had known each other, Karen and Stan, at least since high school, if not even before that. However, it seems their lives went in different directions until many years later. Stop it. Stop it. Stop, stop, stop, stop. That's Hollywood talk. You know, it's like on TV, you see one star is out and they just plant another one in there like you're not going to notice and they go, we're going in a a different direction David and I laugh about that all the time what do you mean

they're going in a different direction Ashley Wilcott uh wait I need a shrink for this Dr. Daniel Bober I met my husband David shortly after my fiance was murdered okay that was a long time ago and we have lived in separate cities for over, you know, 15 years. He went to grad school. I went to law school. A lot happened. But in my mind, love is love. And he stuck by me through all of that. I'm not limly different directions. Why do people say I'm going in a different direction? That's BS. Either you've got a lover or some other interest occurs in your life. There's a break somewhere in that relationship. You don't just wander away from each other. I don't buy that, Dr. Bober.

Well, and you know, Nancy, it's a fairly generic pop culture term. It really doesn't have any meaning except for the fact that one or one of the two people or both people don't have the emotional maturity to make the relationship work. So that's really what it's about. Yeah. You know, sometimes I look at David and he'll say some smart aleck comment to me and I think, oh, mm-mm-mm. Anyway, long story short, I am not going to let him go in a different direction. I can tell you that much. That is not going to happen.

Ashley Wilcott, what do you make of that? Limley, I'll circle back to you. Different direction. Okay. What about it, Ash? Yeah. I don't think you go different directions. I think that's exactly like you're saying.

I think that somebody chooses, makes a choice, have a fair, do something nefarious, something they shouldn't. You don't just go different directions. I completely agree with you. And John Limley, you know, I'm going to go online and check your reporter credentials. No offense. You know, people say no offense right before they say something offensive. Because what you're leaving out is the big gap. I got Jackie Howard telling me, who knows about everybody's relationship,

that these two broke up in high school and they only got back together in 2012, 2014. Right. And that is when they got married. Yeah. Did you leave that out, Limley? They haven't been together and all bored with each other since high school? No, that was my different direction. Limley, are you even in a relationship i'm married okay so you're married well i i hope your spouse is not going in a different direction that's a huge big deal dr daniel bober again a shrink and if you can't

answer this i bet ashley wilcott can there's a big difference and you've known them since high school and you broke up in high school and you get back together in 2014 that's a a very different relationship i agree nancy because i mean let's put it out there you're a very different person in high school than you are it's a different way around so i think getting back together probably says something about the strength of the relationship oh please dr bober you're really putting perfume on the pig what it means is you're not bored yet okay david sometimes looks at me goes are you tired of me and i'm go i've been tired of you since 1979 and okay that's it's a joke and i don't mean it because i'm not i'm not but as you wilcott that's a big, and I don't mean it because I'm not. I'm not. But Ashley Wilcott, that's a big difference. Okay, everybody laughed, but actually the truth is,

and our relationship, I feel like I've been with David for like maybe two or three years, and we've really been together a long time. But I do like to say that to him to keep him on his toes. Ashley Wilcott, there's a big difference in you've been dating since high school and then you just reunited in 2014. Could you explain that to Boba, please? I don't know that I can, because we all know a lot of people that I hear from that I know personally who have been together since high school for a very long time because I am older. They do say that you grow up together and so that can have negative or positive consequences,

but it's a whole different thing. You know a person a lot differently when you've been married for a long time together since high school than when you go and live your life and come back together later in life. I want to go to Dr. Catherine Maloney, who is joining us, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner out of Buffalo. Dr. Maloney, how can you look at, let's just say a head injury, and determine where the killer was at the time of the shooting, what position they were, and explain if you could trajectory path. So the trajectory path is the path that the bullet takes through the body. So you can tell if the bullets traveled, you know, kind of as it enters the body, does it go up or down or right or left? And is it going back to front or front to back? And obviously that will give you an idea of perhaps the location of the

gun in relationship to the person that has been shot. And so that can give you a sense of perhaps how the two people were in relation to one another. Like was one of them, was the person who shot the gun, was it somehow lower or was it higher? The tricky thing about trajectory is you have to keep in mind that both people might be moving. So the person who shot could be leaning forward or leaning backward. And that could make a gunshot won't appear to be going up or going down when in fact it's really more of a straight on shot so it actually can be pretty tricky to get an exact idea of how people were facing each other but it can kind of give you a general sense of of the relationship of two people when one shoots another

crime stories with nancy grace Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Joining me, John Cardillo, former NYPD. What about the other evidence found at the home, specifically this high school principal's shirt? Well, that, you know, when you put the totality of the evidence together, Nancy, and the fact pattern, school principal's shirt. in an enclosed space, I don't care if it's a tiny little.22 long rifle, it's going to be loud. It's going to be deafening. You're not sleeping through that. This case appears to involve a common defensive or duty handgun round, which is going to be incredibly loud in an enclosed space like a home. So you're going to know a gun went off. Now, in most jurisdictions, let's take the murder aspect out of it. If you have an accidental discharge of a firearm in your home, you're supposed to notify law enforcement. So that alone would give the police reason, constitutional reasons to investigate further. Now you find the wife's body. And as others noted, there might not

have been blood around the body, no firearm there. Now you're looking at a homicide, no vehicle that brought her there, other means of conveyance, the shirt with the evidence. Now you've got more than enough probable cause to make an arrest. I would suspect that when police questioned him, his timeline, and you know this is a prosecutor, and as investigators we know the timeline means everything, as do the credibility of the assertions that the suspect would make. And in this case, it appears when you combine all that evidence with this guy's narrative of his timeline, the fact pattern led the investigators to one place, and that was to arrest him for murder. To John Limley, investigative reporter, you hear John Cardillo talking about forensic evidence, evidence, evidence on the shirt. It's blood.

It's blood, Limley. That's what's on his shirt. Explain. Right. As Stan is describing his wife to the officers standing there, It's blood. It's blood, Limley. That's what's on his shirt. Explain. Right. As Stan is describing his wife to the officers standing there, they can't help but notice there's a big red stain on his shirt. And Stan says it's his own blood, that this is something that happens often because he's on blood thinners. In the police report, I see that the cops noted the high school principal had a red stain on the bottom of his shirt

as he was speaking to them. I mean, you're talking to the cops and you have blood on your shirt. And then he tells the cops, according to this police report I'm looking at, that he was on blood thinners and the blood must have been his

and the shirt was old. Okay, Ashley Wilcott, that's not hanging together for me. Not at all. He didn't know where it came from, but he's been on blood thinners. Listen, if you have blood stains on your shirt, I would suggest most people are going to know exactly why, what it's from, when it happened. That's not an everyday occurrence. Well, not only that, what can you tell me, John Limley, investigative reporter joining us, about the family cars and the flowerpots? Yeah, not only do things not look right inside the house, they don't look right outside either. There was damage to both of the couple's vehicles. There were broken flower pots and a wheelbarrow. Officers said that after they started putting all this together,

connecting the dots, it just looked like someone attempting to clean up the scene of some sort of incident, maybe a murder. Take a listen to our friend Danielle Seda of Mount Pleasant's WCBD. The pending charges against Yarbrough include murder, obstruction of justice, and weapon violations. It was on Tuesday night where he told police that his wife was missing. Investigators responded to a rural area near Bydler Forest in Dorchester County last night. They found the body of Karen Yarbrough in a wooded area. In the police report I obtained today, Somerville police say they responded to the couple's Warring Street home yesterday. According to the report, Stan Yarborough told authorities his wife was missing since Monday.

To Ashley Wolcott, what do you make of the flower pots and the car? Well, again, so remember, this is the secondary crime scene. You have where the body was found is the primary. This is the secondary. scene. You have where the body was found is the primary. This is the secondary. And so during the course of any investigation, obviously law enforcement is going to do that. They have to look at all of the evidence, everything they see, document. And when you take all of these things together, talk about circumstantial, the flowerpot in and of itself, big deal. The car in and of itself, big deal. The car in and of itself, big deal.

But when you put these things together, along with the blood on the shirt, I don't remember, I'm on blood thinners, don't know how it got there, it's fine. And a bullet on the floor and next to a hole on the floor in the house where the husband says, I don't even have a gun, I don't know where this came from. You start looking at all of these things together, and you can start to connect the dots. Well, another issue to you, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, to me is like the writing on the wall. There's also the issue of a wheelbarrow found in the front of the couple's home. I'd be very curious to find out if the cars park in front of the home like in a driveway, which I think that they do, because it's very clear to me, Bober, that she is shot upstairs in the bedroom,

that he then drags her down, drags her to the front door, puts her body in a wheelbarrow, and then in getting the wheelbarrow with the body in it to the car, he knocks over the flower pots. It's very obvious to me what happened. Yeah, Nancy, I mean, it's pretty much like a road map. You've got the bullet in the bedroom. You've got the blood on the T-shirt.

You've got the flower pots that were knocked over. I mean, he pretty much did everything but announced himself. It's pretty straightforward, it seems that way anyway. Let's take a listen one more time to that 911 call. Somerville 911, what's the location of your emergency? I'm trying to find my wife. You're trying to find your wife? Yes.

I was up sleeping, and when I wokex was born, she was not here. It's not normal. It's not normal for her. Do you know what direction she usually walks in? I know exactly. I already rode the whole area. You're hearing him talking, but surprisingly to Ashley Wolcott, that call was not made until the following morning. Is that correct, John Limley? That is correct. It was at least 12 hours later. So the whole night he doesn't notice she's gone, Ashley?

Again, so I stand by he wouldn't have gone to sleep when she left in the dark depressed to go take a walk. However, even if he went to sleep, I would suggest that he would have woken up at some point. I do this all the time. And you know, my husband, if my husband's downstairs watching TV, falls asleep in front of the TV, I noticed in the middle of the night, Hey, there's nobody next to me. I'm going to go down and check. I'm going to see where he is. Is everything good? I think that's normal human. Well, maybe not normal, but I do think that's human nature. So I cannot imagine that it's plausible that he slept all night and woke up and he still sounds sleepy or something. And then says, oh, I better call because she's not here. It doesn't make good logical sense to me. Well, also, your husband is about 6'4 and he's got to weigh in at least 225.

So it would really be hard to miss him. Am I right about that? Oh, you're right. He's actually 6'7", and I won't comment on the weight. Okay, I knew it was up there. Yeah, it'd be hard not, it'd be hard not to notice he's missing. Okay. Just nothing is fitting together for me in this case. And another aspect of it, Dr. Catherine Maloney, I'm not going to ask you how many autopsies you have performed. And I guess you and I have probably seen the gamut of dope killings, bar fights, car accidents. But how many times, Dr. Maloney, have you seen an educated, mild-mannered high school principal involved with the brutal murder of his wife? Well, I'm not sure specifically a high school principal, but I mean, we do see a fair number of domestic disturbances. I guess our domestics is what we call them when usually the husband kills the wife or the boyfriend kills the girlfriend. Unfortunately, it's really not that uncommon.

Sometimes there's a history of domestic violence or neighbors will say they fought a lot. But sometimes there's just no history at all. And it's entirely unclear what caused one spouse to snap and and kill the other one but it does happen unfortunately and to dr daniel bober forensic psychiatrist everything she just said is right that there are a lot of domestic homicides and typically however in domestic homicides there very often will be prior domestic abuse reports. The family or the friends or the coworkers will know about domestic abuse. Neighbors may have heard arguments in the past. Not so in this case.

And often in domestic homicides, the man, which is typically the killer, not always, has a reputation for a kind of rage problem, or he's a control freak, or he will fly off the handle very easily. Not the case at all with James Yarborough. It is very odd, Nancy. Usually, like you said, there is an escalation, a crescendo where generally the man will up the ante. And in this case, it seems to have occurred strictly in isolation, which is unusual. We are talking about the murder of a beautiful mom, Karen Yarborough, a business executive as well. Take a listen to this. Yarborough in court today, a judge denied bond for his murder charge,

but did issue a $50,000 bond for a weapons charge and $25,000 for obstruction of justice. We all have our lives and we don't see what goes on behind closed doors. The stigma is there and they're going to have to carry it the rest of their lives. Police say they found a bullet in Yarborough's bedroom on Tuesday and blood on his shirt, but ultimately they found Karen Yarborough's body in rural Dorchester County. All kind of shaking our heads, and we feel bad for what's happened. Karen was a sweet, just beautiful woman. She really was. And tonight, deputies say Stan Yarbrough is in the Dorchester County Detention Center. He's expected to go before a judge on December 16th.

That was WCIV's Brody Hart talking with a longtime friend of the family, Ken Bowman. And right now I'm looking at a photo of their home. And what strikes me about it is it's so well kept and it's got decorations, seasonal decorations all around the home. There is a flag of some sort. Oh, it looks like a Clemson flag out front. You can tell it's been decorated and lovingly cared for. There's a rose garden edging one side of it. And in a beautiful residential area, all the homes are very quaint-looking.

And it goes to show that you never know what is happening behind closed doors. People show you the facade they want you to see and not really what is lurking beneath. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.