Individual Details

Death

Albemarle woman murdered in home by Kathryn Thier -- Albemarle police are investigating a homicide after finding a woman dead of multiple wounds inside her home on Edgemont Street. Karen Kristin Furr, 40, was found Friday around 10 p.m. after her employer reported she hadn't been to work in two days, said Chief Ronnie Michael. She had been assaulted, although Michael said it's not clear yet what caused her wounds or how she died. Police are looking for her live-in friend, Edwin Whitmire, 36, calling him a person of interest, Michael said. Whitmire may be driving Furr's 2006 Suzuki Reno with the license plate VXP 4929, Michael said. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Whitmire or Furr's vehicle are asked to call police at 704-984-9500.

GREENSBORO - Miss Karen Kristin Furr, 40, of 420 Edgemont Street, Albemarle, passed away. A memorial service for Miss Furr will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 29, at Forbis and Dick North Elm Street Chapel. She was born in Gainesville, Georgia and she grew up in Greensboro. She was the assistant manager of Goodys in Albemarle. She is survived by her mother, Lola Dawson Furr and Joseph Scholler of Greensboro; father, James William Furr of Salt Lake City, Utah; brother, James William Furr, III and wife, Audrey Trainor of Madison, Wisconsin. Visitation will be held from 6:30 until 8 p.m. Thursday before the service. Memorials may be made to Guilford County Animal Shelter, P.O. Box 8, Jamestown, N.C. 27282.

Whitmire pleads guilty to murder, receives minimum of 38 years
By Jim Lisk, Editor
Sunday, May 17, 2009 — Thursday afternoon, Edwin Everette Whitmire, 38, entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder in the March 2007 killing of former girlfriend and Goody’s assistant manager Karen Kristin Furr. At the time of her murder, Furr was allowing Whitmire to live with her rather than putting him out on the street, Assistant District Attorney Gene Morris told the court. Furr and Whitmire had had a 10-year relationship. In addition, Whitmire pleaded guilty to robbery with a dangerous weapon and five counts of identity theft and was sentenced to a maximum of 573 months and a minimum of 459 months, or 38 years minimum. Sitted with other family members behind the prosecutor’s desk inside the bar, Furr’s mother, Lola Furr of Greensboro, was permitted to speak to Whitmire. “Eddie, I’ve known you for 10 years and you’ve been in my house at Thanksgiving and Christmas,” the grieving mother said. “All you had to do was call me ... you’ve ruined a lot of lives.” When offered the opportunity to speak, Whitmire said nothing. In presenting the state’s evidence, Morris called APD Detective John Ballantine to the stand to detail the events leading up to Whitmire’s arrest and susequent guilty plea bargain.

The Crime Scene

After missing work on Thursday and Friday at Goody’s where she had worked for five years, Albemarle Police were advised and subsequently found Furr’s unclothed body in the bathroom of her home at 420 Edgemont St. at 12:45 p.m. Friday, March 23. When APD arrived at the house, the front door was locked, the TV was glaring loudly and nobody came to the door. After entering through a side door, APD found blood on the walls and floor of the living room, a knife soaking in water and Clorox, the den was in total disarray and Furr’s body in the bathroom. Gone was Furr’s 2006 Suzuki Reno and an all-points bulletin went out for Whitmire.

Whitmire’s Account

On March 26, APD received a call that Whitmire was being held in custody by the Pembroke, Ga. Police. Ballantine and Det. Sgt. Jeff Swink traveled to Georgia to return Whitmire to Stanly County. While being interrogated in Georgia and in the subsequent ride back to Stanly County, Whitmire said he and a friend had been doing meth, heroin and drinking Bud Ice at the friend’s residence in Salisbury. On their way back to Albemarle, the pair picked up more beer and Whitmire continued to drink and do heroin as he cleaned up the kitchen of Furr’s home. When Furr returned from work at approximately 9:45 p.m., she knew he was high and drunk and started “smarting off” at Whitmire for being “messed up.” A fight between the two ensued in the living room and once on top of her, Whitmire applied an “ultimate fighting choke hole” for 20-30 seconds ... choking his former girlfriend of 10 years to death. When her body did not move again, he moved her body to the bathroom and tried to clean-up the crime scene with Clorox. While on the run, Whitmire used Furr’s bank card five different times as he first drove north to within an hour of New York City, then south all the way to the Florida Keys. He was again headed north when apprehended in Georgia.

DA’s Comments

Following the guilty plea by Whitmire, Morris advised the court that the Furr Family “is okay with this plea.” “They did not want a jury trial,” Morris said. Included in the evidence were autopsy photos of Furr’s body that evoked a stern assessment by Morris of Whitmire’s story. “I’ve done this for a long time and what you see here is overkill,” Morris said, as he presented the photos to Judge William Pittman. “I don’t know what the combination of meth, heroin and alcohol does. He says he was messed up, but I question how he remembered all the details,” Morris said.

Two Mothers

As Whitmire left the court room to spend a minimum of 38 years in prison, he turned to his mother and family members, seated in the front row of the gallery, and mouthed the words, “I love you.” Then as she began her exit, Lola Furr stopped to hug Whitmire’s mother, then the pair peered into each others eyes and exchanged soft words ... only as two mothers could do.
The Stanly News & Press, May 18, 2009