The Murder of Patricia Kimble
For this case, I watched an episode of If I Should Die. It’s season 1 episode 6, titled ‘Go Forth and Murder.’
A 26-year-old woman is found dead in her home.
Background
Patricia Blakley met her future husband, Ted Kimble, when he was dating her cousin. Patricia was a devout Christian, and Ted was the son of a pastor. Patricia and Ted became friends and roommates before they went on to date, and got married in May of 1994.
Patricia was described as beautiful, kind, and would’ve done anything for anyone.
Patricia
Ted and Patricia Kimble
The Crime Scene
On October 9, 1995, Ted contacted Patricia’s brother, Reuben. He asked his brother-in-law if he could go to there house on Brandon Court, and check on Patricia.
When Reuben arrived, he saw Patricia’s car in the driveway, and saw that the house was on fire. He immediately contacted the Greensboro, North Carolina first responders.
The fire had to be watered down before anyone could enter the house. Most of the house was intact, but it was clear that the fire had been contained to a small portion of the house.
One of the fireman actually fell through the floor, and that’s when the body of Patricia Kimble was discovered. She hadn’t died from the fire, but from a gunshot wound to the head. The handgun was found, but it was water damaged, so the police couldn’t get any fingerprints off of it.
The police’s first theory was that it was a robbery. The Kimble home had been burglarized two times prior to this incident. The back bedroom had been ransacked, but nothing had been taken. There was still jewelry, money, TVs, and a camera in the home. It was clear that someone had killed Patricia, and set the house on fire.
The Suspects
The first suspect was obviously Ted. Ted was described as charming and handsome.
Ted told the police that he was at his part time job at Precision Fabrics at the time of the murder. The police had put the time of the murder and fire around 6:30pm. Ted had an airtight alibi, and his time card proved that he was at work. Ted said he last spoke to his wife earlier in the day. She had told him that she was on her way home, but he became concerned when she didn’t contact him after that.
The police learned that Ted had taken over Lyles’ Building Supply from its owner and family friend, Gary Lyles. The police asked Ted if anyone from the company would’ve wanted to hurt him, or Patricia. Ted said yes. He gave them a name of an employee that he had fired. But, this man was eventually cleared, as he had an alibi.
There was one more man that the police checked out before they hit a dead end. A man named Rodney, who had once worked at Lyles, and did some odd jobs for the Kimble’s, became a suspect. Rodney told the police that the Kimble’s gave him a key to their house. But, he also had an alibi, and was about 30 miles away at the time of the murder.
Patricia’s Own Words
After they were out of leads, the police went back to the crime scene. They found a journal of Patricia’s, and learned that the marriage wasn’t as happy as it seemed.
Inside, Patricia wrote that Ted barely looked at her. She also wrote that she wondered if Ted had taken the second job to get away from her.
Patricia was also very close with Gary and Rose Lyles. The police turned to him for answers. Gary told the police that Ted had once been a womanizer, and moved on quickly from relationship to relationship.
Gary wanted to give the business to Ted. He told Ted that before that happened, he needed to settle down and get married. Just a few weeks later, Ted and Patricia were engaged.
The police turned back to Ted, and asked if he had an exes that would’ve wanted to hurt Patricia. Ted told them that Patricia was very jealous and had self-esteem issues.
The police learned that Patricia had been very jealous of her cousin, Janet, while she dated Ted. Patricia changed her hair, and started dressing better. When Janet left for college, Ted and Patricia got together.
The police questioned Janet, but she denied hurting her cousin. Janet told them that Ted proposed to her just a few weeks before he proposed to Patricia, and with the same ring. Janet said she dumped Ted because he was pressuring her to marry him.
Janet also revealed that Ted had filed several fake insurance claims. He had keyed his car, and claimed that his stereo had been stolen. She said he was very conniving.
The Oldest Motive
After ruling out yet another theory, the police learned that Ted had taken out a $200,000 life insurance police on Patricia. Patricia found out about this, and learned that Ted had forged her signature. Patricia was furious, and it led to an argument.
Patricia became fearful of Ted. She wrote that Ted had been keeping a gun under his pillow. Ted claimed that it was because of the prior break-ins.
One of Patricia’s friends came forward, and told the police that Patricia told her if something happened to her, to look into Ted.
The police now knew that Ted had started working at Precision Fabrics to create an alibi. They just needed to find out who had helped him.
The police spoke to Rodney again after his ex-girlfriend claimed that he was upset by something. Rodney said his ex was a liar, but he did admit that Ted had told him that he had a way for them to make a lot of money. Rodney also said that if the police came around to tell them that he didn’t know his brother, Ronnie Kimble, Jr. Rodney said he did know Ronnie, and that he had seen him around Lyles’ a lot.
The police had Rodney contact Ted, and tried to get him to admit to trying to hire him. But, Ted didn’t admit to anything.
The Dream Confession
The police looked into Ronnie, and learned that he was stationed at the Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. But, he was at Lyles’ on the day of the murder, and was seen by many employees.
The police traveled the 4 hours to Camp Lejeune, but Ronnie claimed he was at home on October 9, 1995.
This was obviously a lie, and the police received a call from another Marine named Mitch Whidden. He told them that Ronnie said he had a dream that Ted had offered him money, and became the prime suspect because Patricia was dead.
Mitch knew that Ronnie was involved, and told him to turn himself in. Ronnie said no. Mitch believed that Ronnie would hurt him now that he knew, and left the area to hide from Ronnie.
It’s believed that Ted had always manipulated Ronnie, and controlled him. Ronnie wanted to be loved and accepted by his brother, and agreed to help him.
Ted didn’t want to be married to Patricia anymore, and openly spoke about that. Ronnie drove to his brother’s house, and waited for Patricia to get home. Patricia saw the work truck, and believed that Ted was home. But, it was Ronnie, and he shot her in the head. He then staged the scene to make it look like a robbery, and then set the house on fire.
The Arrests and Convictions
On April 1, 1997, Ted and Ronnie Kimble were both arrested. Ronnie was at Camp Lejeune, and Ted was driving his work truck.
Ronnie was convicted of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
In January 1999, Ted pled guilty to second degree murder, first degree arson, and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Ted took an Alford plea for 8 counts of solicitation to commit first degree murder. He was sentenced to 107 years.
Ronnie Jr., and Ted Kimble
FINAL THOUGHTS
Patricia just wanted to be loved. She had no idea that Ted had been trying to find a wife in order to get the business. Patricia was in love with Ted, but started to see a change in him. Ted was able to hide his true self from a lot of people. He’s obviously an evil man. Ronnie was probably manipulated, but he still chose to kill his sister-in-law. They both deserve to rot in prison.
Sources
https://soapboxie.com/government/Patricia-Kimble-Ted-Kimble-Ronnie-Kimble
