JONESVILLE — A Flatwoods man was indicted on murder charges Thursday morning by a Lee County grand jury for his alleged role in the April 2011 shooting death of his wife.
Timothy Raymond Carter, 46, 3681 Flanary Bridge Road, Flatwoods, was arrested by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office following his indictment on charges of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons said Carter is suspected of shooting his wife, Amy Carter, 34, on April 14, 2011, at their home in Flatwoods.
Parsons said the case has been under investigation by his office and the Lee County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for several months.
“I know this has been a long, trying period for the family, and I am sorry we could not get to this point sooner,” Parsons said. “But we had to make sure we had our ducks in a row and could produce a solid, fact-filled case that would result in a conviction.”
Authorities were first made aware of Amy Carter’s death when Timothy Carter’s mother called Lee County dispatch to report that her daughter-in-law had shot herself at the couple’s Flanary Branch Road residence.
Parsons said officers became suspicious of the self-inflicted gunshot report immediately after responding to the scene due to the positioning of certain evidence and the amount of time that had passed between the time Amy Carter was shot and the incident was reported.
As a result, Parsons said his office requested “a large battery of forensic testing from the state laboratory.”
Parsons said the initial results of those tests led to the need for further answering of questions.
Parsons said the Virginia State Police provided accountants and computer experts to assist with the investigation. A VSP special agent was also assigned to the case and sat in on several interviews investigators conducted.
Parsons said Tim Carter is being held without bond at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Duffield.