On Sept. 15, Jimmy Dale Sheffield was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in Moore County Superior Court, Moore County District Attorney Mike Hardin announced.
On May 27, 2021, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for a woman who was found dead, wrapped in a blanket under a bed. Debbie Jo Owens was the girlfriend of Jimmy Dale Sheffield at the time of her death and lived with Sheffield in the upstairs bedroom of a residence located on Chriscoe Road in West Seagrove.
Owens was last seen alive on May 2, 2021. A family member who also lived at the house found Owens on May 27, 2021, after the victim and defendant had not shown up to work for several days.
Owens was found wrapped in a quilt, forced under the bed, with multiple blunt force wounds to the head, said Hardin. Detectives found a hammer on the floor near the bed, along with bloody cleaning wipes in a plastic bag. Detectives did not locate the victims’ debit cards, cell phone, wallet, backpack, jewelry box, or other personal items at the home.
Detectives located surveillance videos from retail stores and gas stations, along with Owens’s bank records. Hardin said these records proved her card was used after her death for purchases and ATM cash withdrawals during the period Sheffield was not at the home or answering phone calls and text messages from his family.
Sheffield was apprehended in a taxicab in Myrtle Beach, SC, with $2,591 in his wallet. A search of his hotel room at Royal Palace Inn in Myrtle Beach, SC, and his vehicle yielded items purchased with the victim’s bank card and receipts from bank card transactions for the account belonging to Owens.
On Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Warren McSweeney heard victim impact evidence from the family of Owens before sentencing Sheffield to life in prison.
“The District Attorney’s Office would like to thank the Moore County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Myrtle Beach Police Department for their diligent efforts and dedication to this case,” said Hardin.
To sign up for the free Sandhills Sentinel breaking news and weekly e-newsletter, please click here.
Contributed article/photo.
Comments
Comments are closed.