Murder victim found in home
By John Joyce
Published in News on October 14, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Wayne County Sheriff's Office investigator Lt. Shawn Harris assists a team of Wayne NET (non-emergency transport) paramedics who helped recover the body of a murder victim found in the home of Clifton Wayne Griffin, 49, at 301 Leavie Drive in the Patetown community early this morning.
Acting on a tip from a concerned citizen, investigators with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office entered a mobile home at 301 Leavie Drive in the Patetown community Monday night and discovered the body of a female murder victim inside.
The victim, whose identity was not immediately released, had not been seen in more than a week, authorities said.
Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said positive identification was not possible because of the body's decomposition, but that investigators believe they know who the woman was.
And they also believe they know who killed her.
Clifton Wayne Griffin, 49, of 301 Leavie Drive, is being held without bond in the Wayne County Jail, charged with an open count of murder after he allegedly confessed.
Pierce said detectives received a call Monday morning about the possibility of a dead person inside the mobile home. Investigators worked throughout the day to gather enough information to obtain a search warrant, which they did later that evening.
It was after 9 p.m. when investigators entered the home and discovered the victim.
Griffin, believed to have been staying somewhere else, was brought in for questioning and eventually gave detectives a written statement confessing to the crime, Pierce said.
The cause of death will be officially determined once the body arrives for autopsy at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Chapel Hill, the sheriff added.
Pierce said the name of the victim will not be released until that process has been completed.
A positive identification will also be made and the victim's family will then be officially notified.
"We've got to be sure we have who we think we have here before releasing anything further," Pierce said.
Investigators began processing the scene from the time the body was discovered and continued to do so throughout the morning.
The Patetown Volunteer Fire Department stood by with a response vehicle providing light for the investigators, and as a precaution. Paramedics who came to retrieve the body had to wear protective suits and SCBA tanks due to the level of decomposition, Pierce said.
Powertools including a reciprocating saw had to be used to cut through a wall to allow the recovery team to move the body.
No crowd gathered and investigators worked freely, without the need for crime scene tape.
Across the street, a couple sat on the steps of their front porch and watched.
They said they knew Griffin and the woman believed to be the victim, and were friendly with them but not friends.
"We knew them enough to speak and say hello," Remarco Atkinson said.
Atkinson happens to be a Wayne County sheriff's deputy assigned to the Wayne County Courthouse. He said he had no connection to the case other than simply being a neighbor.
"We thought the lady had moved. We saw the boyfriend coming in and out earlier in the week, but we had no idea," Atkinson said.