Murder of Kathy Bonney

Thomas Lee Bonney (born c. 1943) lived in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he ran an auto salvage yard.

According to his defense attorneys, Tom Bonney's childhood had been a troubled one, as he suffered physical abuse at the hands of his father.

Bonney and his wife Dorothy had six children, the oldest of whom were Kathy Carol (August 6, 1968 – November 21, 1987) and Susan Christine (born 1972).

Susan Bonney described her father as strict and controlling, saying he never allowed his children to date.

A former business partner of Tom Bonney's described him as having a poor memory and being susceptible to mood swings concerning religious topics.

Near the time of Kathy's death, he had noticed Tom Bonney acting strange.

According to him, Tom Bonney had a love-hate relationship with his father.

On November 21, 1987, 19-year-old Kathy Bonney was killed by her father Tom in Camden County, North Carolina.

The case gained media attention not only due to the brutal manner in which the killing had been carried out, but also because Tom Bonney pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on the grounds that he had dissociative identity disorder and that an evil personality state was in control at the time of the killing.

The book Deadly Whispers by Ted Schwarz and a television movie of the same name are based on the case.

On November 21, 1987, some time after 7 p.m., Tom Bonney left the family home with his daughter Kathy, ostensibly to look at a truck which was for sale.

Kathy's sister Susan saw Tom and Kathy in the car at a nearby 7-Eleven store and driving away soon after.

Bonney drove across the North Carolina state border; he would later state that the killing had taken place in North Carolina.

According to his defense attorneys, an argument between father and daughter over her lover ensued, in which Kathy swore at her father and reached for a gun he carried in his vehicle, which went off.

Her comments caused him to have a flashback to his childhood, and a personality referred to as “Demian” took control of him.

Tom Bonney shot his daughter 27 times and dumped her body alongside the Dismal Swamp Canal.

After about two hours Tom Bonney returned home alone and asked if anyone knew where Kathy was.

Susan went out to the 7-Eleven store to look for Kathy; Tom Bonney did not participate in the search.

On the morning of November 22, Tom Bonney reported Kathy missing at the Chesapeake police department.

He upheld his narrative of the previous evening, claiming that he had taken Kathy to the 7-Eleven store to meet a man Kathy knew, named John, who wanted to sell his Chevrolet Blazer.

Kathy had gone for a test drive with him around 9:00 p.m. and never returned.

Bonney stated he did not grow suspicious until the next morning, as his daughter had stayed out all night once before.

Police told him that, since Kathy was an adult, a missing-person report could only be filed after 24 hours.

Bonney phoned the police again shortly before 7 p.m., stating Kathy was still missing.

An officer went to the Bonneys’ home, and Bonney repeated his version of the events.

Kathy Bonney's nude body was found around 3:00 p.m., on the outskirts of Elizabeth City near the Dismal Swamp Canal along U.S. Route 17 in Camden County, just over the state line from Chesapeake.

A blood-stained undergarment with a ripped bottom was found near her body.

Her face was so badly disfigured that she could only be identified through her fingerprints.

The autopsy identified a total of 27 gunshot wounds to Kathy's head, torso and legs, some of which had been inflicted after death.

Her body showed no evidence of sexual activity.

The blood stains on the clothes found with the body matched Kathy's blood type.

A search of Kathy's room revealed a letter to her lover, some adult magazines and a pair of handcuffs.

Tom Bonney helped police prepare a composite of the alleged suspect and upheld his version of the events on November 21 for several weeks.

However, police noted inconsistencies in his statements: on some occasions he claimed to have driven his wrecker on the night of November 21, on others he stated he had driven his Chevrolet.

He furthermore claimed that his .22-caliber sawed-off rifle had been stolen from him a week prior to Kathy's disappearance, and that he had sold the nine-shot .22 revolver.

He also sold his Chevrolet in the days after Kathy disappeared, but reported seeing it again a few days later, prompting police to seize the car.

In December 1987, Susan Bonney told police that she had seen blood stains in her father's car the night Kathy disappeared, and that she was afraid of her father.

Police indeed found blood stains which matched Kathy's blood type.

Traces of Kathy's hair were found in the rear and trunk of the Chevrolet.

Tom Bonney fled on December 11, while Dorothy Bonney went into hiding out of fear of him, and Social Services officials took custody of the family's other children.